The truth behind his lies
by pl12
Summary: When Daya joined CID, perhaps he never dreamed that one day in his future, his close friend and senior, Abhijit, would be accused of murdering another CID officer. And now, exactly, that's what happened. The hardest part to accept is that the evidence is stacking up against Abhijit and Daya is not sure what or who to believe.
1. Chapter 1

_A/N : Well, heh, this is way too embarrassing, but it looks like that I finally have to come out of my hibernation. Well, at least for a few days._

_You see, it is my little sis birthday, and she wants a CID story as a virtual gift for her day. And she has been pestering me ever since._

_So, here, I am, back again, and posting my story._

_God, the things that I do for my family…._

_Nwz, here's the story. Hope you also like it. And by the way, wishing you a very happy birthday, my dear brat of a sis. This one's for you._

_Oh, and another thing, a toast to you, mah frndz, for wishing me luck for my xmz._

_Pppsssst : There's a sequel on its way to this story. Will be posting soon._

* * *

Mumbai, CID Bureau  
April 14, 2012

Daya could do patience, in fact he could do it damn well, which was a very good thing since being an CID officer was not anywhere near as exciting as the movies made it out to be. There was a lot more time spent behind his desk as well as in the shooting and that too, with dangerous criminals, a lot more. It was where the patience came in handy, standing around behind the cover of vehicles or the side of a building or in the command vehicle while the suspect weighed the odds of actually escaping while surrounded by local law enforcement and a detachment of the CID. After three to ten hours, Daya's longest and most dull standoff to date, and several insane demands that were never met, honestly, the suspect would wander out, his weapon dangling loosely from a finger or two away from his body before being tossed away and then dropping to lay face down on the ground.

Yeah, Daya did not really need a thrill for excitement but he definitely needed patience. So it was a damn good thing he had a good grip on that particular virtue.

At least, he did on most days but today just was not one of those days.

It started as a small worry, niggling, at the back of his head, when he had glanced at his watch, realized it was a quarter after eight and his senior and closest friend still had not shown up. His friend, Abhijit , was not known for his tardiness when it came to the job.

Which was why it had worried him, the feeling only getting worse when his calls, there may have been four or five in quick succession, he was not really counting, rang through to voice mail. Abhijit was never late for work, and never let his phone ring through to voice mail.

Something had to be wrong.

He had pretty much worked himself into a state of panic, thirty minutes later when Abhijit had flown in, dark suit jacket haphazardly thrown over his left arm, some folders clutched in the opposite hand, and a cross expression between pissed off and sheepish on his face.

That was another thing that Abhijit was not, at least at the beginning of the day, disorganized.

"Sorry."

He grunted as he dropped his folders on his desk and pulled his jacket on.

" Abhijit, kya hua ?"

" Nahi, aisa kuch bhi nahi. Baas traffic jam mein phaas gaya tha. Baaki koi aur nahi aaya kya ?"

He would not meet Daya's eyes, instead busying himself with organising his folders.

" Abhi tak toh nahi. Baas aa hi rahe honge." Daya adds , then trails off, furthermore adding, " Maine tumhe call kiya tha par woh voice mail mein chala gaya."

"Darashal maine phone ghar pe hi chorke aaya. Ussi ko dhoondte dhoondte late ho gaya aur traffic jam mein phaas gaya."

_What?_

Abhijit's phone was an extension of Abhijit himself, he never went anywhere without the thing, except in some rare cases, where his idiocy sometimes gets the better of him, never wanting to put others at risk.

Daya studied him while he fiddled with the files he was pulling out of his folders. His back was a tense line, shoulders practically bunching up under his ears and he was fidgeting like he was nervous.

Something was definitely going on.

" Abhijit, aakhir baat kya hai ? Tum kuch pareshan lag rahe ho."

Daya chewed on his bottom lip, looking pained as he watched Abhijit slump down into his chair and gently started pushing the files on his desk, never hard enough to actually shove them anywhere but just enough to make a soft scraping noise.

Daya looked around the office, manned by seven people, including himself with Abhijit, their second senior most officer, with their first senior most officer, ACP.

But just looking at his friend, he knew that Abhijit was a mess and he could not just sit back and wait until he came to him to talk, _if _ he came to him to talk. They might have managed to become close friends but he knew that sometimes Abhijit never tell him anything willingly, happy to just suffer by himself, never letting others to grieve for his problems, least of all, help.

" Please, Daya. Thori der ke liye mujhe akela chor do." Abhijit almost begged Daya.

The plea made Daya's heart hurt and only made his suspicions more apt to be the truth.

Daya opened his mouth to speak again but the opening of the double doors of the bureau caught his attention. He glanced back just as two men, dressed in suits, stepped out beside his senior officer, ACP.

" Abhijit"

Daya is suddenly hit by the omnious feeling that something is terribly wrong and it kicked him in the stomach again.

" Mere cabin mein aao."

Abhijit said nothing as he pulled himself to his feet and moved towards the open cabin door just as the two men passed Daya and followed Abhijit.

He turned back just in time to see the rest of his subordinates, who has came by now, standing shocked, and only to see them staring back at him.

Something was very, very wrong.

* * *

An hour later, Abhijit was still in ACP's cabin along with the two men that had shown up just as he had been called in and Daya was pretty much sick with worry.

" Daya sir, aakhir baat kya hai ? Abhijit sir ke saath kuch hua hai kya ?" Fredricks asked with a hysterical tone in his voice.

" Pata nahi, Freddy. Abhijit ne toh mujhe kuch kaha hi nahi. Woh kuch kehne waala tha ki tabhi ACP sir achanak aa gaye aur Abhijit ko aapne cabin mein bulaya."

" Aur saath mein woh dono aadmi kaun hai ? " Vinay asked in a tense voice.

" Woh log bhi CID officers hi hai. Aur woh bhi Delhi headquarters ke." Rajat added in a voice, not any different from his subordinate, Vinay.

All heads turned sharply to Rajat, at his knowledge.

" Yeh baat tumhe kaise pata chala ?" Daya asked with a questioning gaze on Rajat.

" Darashal, baat yeh hai ki kuch hi din pehle, maine jab ACP sir ke saath Delhi gaye the toh meine tabhi inn dono ko waha dekha tha aur….," Rajat hesitates, trailing off.

" Aur kya, Rajat ?"

" Yeh dono tab DCP Sir ke saath mein the. Aur maine jab bhi inn dono ko waha dekha hai hamesha DCP sir ke saath saath hi dekha hai."

" Kya ? DCP sir ke saath ?" Freddy nearly hyperventilates.

" Sir, mujhe kuch theek nahi lag raha. Agar Abhijit sir ko kuch-," Sachin adds, only to be cut off sharply by Daya.

" Aisa kuch bhi nahi hoga, Sachin. Humare hote hue Abhijit ko kuch nahi hoga."

But one question, evaded them.

Why in the world would CID officers be doing, wanting to see Abhijit, another CID officer ?

He knew there were a myriad of reasons, Mumbai may be a small office but they still had their fair share of crap.

Most of the times it was illegal aliens, ranging from drug dealers to smugglers, which while were never fun, Daya got that most of them were only looking for a better life and having to send them back hurt but it was his job and was not generally life threatening. Occasionally, there were the parents that had kidnapped their own kids and crossed state lines but mostly that was it for them.

But then there were the occasional drug peddlers or desperate bank robbers. And with them, came the death threats and the slimy lawyers that generally got them out on bail. And it was something that they dealt on a regular basis.

But the main thing is that there were two CID officers in ACP's cabin with his friend and he was not involved.

Unfortunately, it pointed to something that happened before and there had been a death threat on Abhijit's life three months ago. He did remember a lot about it, Abhijit telling him the story, only because of Daya's continuous persistence, during a stake out of a suspected child kidnapper in the area, which had turned out to be a bad lead, something about a nut who had murdered his family, then traveled across two states to kill his wife's parents.

Would a judge have granted someone like that bail?

The answer made him sick to his stomach.

He wanted to be in ACP's cabin. Abhijit was his friend and if his friend was in danger, he should be there to back him up.

And that was definitely the only reason. It did not matter that Abhijit was his senior, that occasionally his eyes darkened and narrowed just so when Daya blames him for his silence, not giving anyone any reason to help him with his troubles. Nor did it have anything to do with the fact that there was a big fight between them just a few days ago. So it definitely had nothing to do with that.

He was so screwed.

He needed to get out, even if it was just down to the parking block, a few distance away, just to take a minute to pull himself together but he knew he would not never do that. Eventually Abhijit was going to come out of ACP's cabin and he might need Daya, even if just on a senior-junior relationship. He might need him and if he could not be in there with him, then he sure in hell was going to be right here for him.

" Daya."

He jumped at the sound of ACP calling his name. In the last hour, he had spent more time than not staring at the ACP cabin's door , and it had suddenly and finally opened.

He wanted to stand but did not want to look too eager, too worried. He wanted to ask what was going on in the same demanding tone that ACP used when he was clearly upset, like now but clenched his jaw shut. It was not going to do anyone any good if he started throwing attitude around now and worse than that, Abhijit would give him hell for doing it.

He finally settled on the usual, " Sir ?"

ACP tilted his head towards his open door, " Aander aao."

It was the same damn come back, the man used every time but it was noticeably missing the usual resigned fondness and that did nothing to settle Daya's nerves. Silently he stood and crossed the room, ignoring the feeling of burning in his back, knowing that his subordinates were watching him and would be watching.

It took less than a second for Daya to take in the cabin, one of the officers sitting in one of the chairs in front of ACP's desk, the other leaning against the wall beside it and Abhijit in the other chair, his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands.

He felt his heart turn over before it started to beat double time.

Ignoring the warning in the back of his head that was trying to tell him that maybe it was not going to look professional, he leaned beside Abhijit and gently squeezed his thigh.

" Abhi " He murmured softly, "Abhijit, kya hua ?"

Abhijit's thigh was tense under his hand, with his whole body practically vibrating with the pressure of trying to hold himself together.

Daya felt a fine sheen of sweat break out over his body. This kind of reaction did not sit right with what he knew of Abhijit, if the problem had to do with the nut job getting out on bail. He would not be practically curled in on himself trying to contain his emotions, he would be trying to pace the small room, brushing off his senior's concerns and recommendations. He would be demanding to be left to do his job, bluffing his way out of the real possibility that the threat against his life was legitimate. Not just sitting there, not like that.

"Abhijit?" He tried again when he got no reaction, not even the shake of his head.

" Daya, main chahta hoon ki tum Abhijit ko ek hotel mein le kar jao." ACP instructed sternly , " Woh kuch dino ke liye wohi pe rahega."

Daya's body froze.

A hotel ?

Living there ?

What the hell was going on?

He tried to see past Abhijit's fingers to meet his eyes but all he could catch was the sweep of his eyelashes against his cheeks. If he could just see his eyes, then maybe he could get an understanding for the situation and not feel like he was failing to catch up on something that he should already know.

" Daya ."

His spine stiffened instantly, the sharp order in his senior's voice commanding his attention, demanding it. He turned his head quickly enough that it cracked.

" Abhijit ko lekar jao." He said it slowly, enunciating each word.

He nodded once and climbed to his feet, ignoring the two officers, who had remained silent but watchful since he had first walked into the cabin.

" Chalo, Abhijit."

Daya urged softly and leaned forward enough to get a good grip on his bicep, " Chalo, yaha se." He tightened his fingers and gave a light tug.

Finally, Abhijit pulled his head out of his hands and looked up at Daya. His eyes looked more out of it than he had when he first walked into the office.

"Daya?"

He swallowed hard, trying to force down the surge of concern and the urge to wrap Abhijit up in his arms and hide him from whatever had him so messed up.

" Haan." He managed a slight smile. " Chalo. Aaj ke liye tum free ho. Toh chalo kahi aur chalte hai. Tum kya kehte ho ?"

He stared up at Daya, his gaze empty of everything, before he shifted so that he could see around him.

" Sir ?"

"Jao Abhijit." He pressed softly, " Kuch dino ke liye rest lo."

He started shaking his head, " Nahi sir. Main thee-"

" Tumhe thora samay le lena chahiye." ACP overran his protest, " aur yeh ek request nahi hai, Abhijit."

Daya watched Abhijit staring his senior directly in his eyes, before he blew out a breath, " Mujhe Daya ko iss case pe nahi chahiye."

_Case…What case?_

He turned his head just in time to watch ACP shake his own, " Par Abhij-"

" Please sir. Iss baar nahi."

No one in the room missed Daya's grip on Abhijit's bicep, tightening furthermore.

ACP raised an eyebrow but his eyes flashed with understanding. " Theek hai, Abhijit. Agar tum waisa hi chahte ho toh waisa hi hoga. "

Daya had forgotten that he had his fingers wrapped around Abhijit's bicep until his friend shifted and started getting to his feet. A part of him wanted to keep touching him, hoping that it would convey his support in whatever this was but he was pretty sure it would not be welcome. At least not now that some of Abhijit's normal personality was starting to reassert itself.

Reluctantly, he let his hand drop to his side but he could not stop himself from following close enough behind that he could feel the heat coming off of him. He did not care how it looked to the officers or ACP or even how Abhijit felt about it. He might be slowly coming back around but something had thrown him, hard, and he was not going to take the chance that suddenly Abhijit might go practically catatonic again and he would not be close enough to help, despite Abhijit not wanting him to help in this case, whatever it is.

Abhijit paused as he drew even with ACP, " Sir, aur ek baat. Sirf Daya hi nahi, main nahi chahta ki koi bhi iss department mein se yeh case le."

For a moment, ACP simply stared at Abhijit, and finally, what seemed like eternity, nodded in response to Abhijit's request.

Daya made eye contact with ACP as he followed Abhijit out the door.

" Uska khayal rakhna." ACP said softly, low enough that Daya was sure that the officers had not heard it and chances were Abhijit had not either.

He nodded once, still lost in confusion but he had every intention of doing just that, knowing that eventually Abhijit would tell him what had happened. Until then he would stay close, find Abhijit a decent hotel to hole up in and be ready for anything.

* * *

The drive to the hotel had yielded as little information as being called into ACP's office had and Daya was just about ready to crawl out of his skin. Abhijit had remained as silent as he had been in the cabin, even more so when his subordinates asked him the reason, going so far as to leave it up to Daya with a soft " Pata nahi " as to which hotel to take him to.

Daya had pointed the car in the direction of the Mariott only because it had been the first hotel to come to mind. Though in retrospect, he hoped that it would somehow snap Abhijit out of the silent staring, he had been doing since they had gotten into the car, if only to, at least, veto it because of the constant crowds of the highways.

Instead, he had stayed resolutely silent during the trip and Daya was pretty sure he was about to explode, a combination of worry and frustration swirling in his stomach. It was not that he thought he deserved to know what was going on, per se, but it was a case, both Abhijit and ACP had said as much, and except them, nobody would know what was happening and he was Abhijit's friend.

As loath as he was to admit it, it was actually hurt that was most prevalent, though as he guided the car into the entrance of the underground parking garage for the hotel and flashed his badge at the attendant, graining them quick access, because in moments, Abhijit would be getting out of the car and he would still have no idea what was going on. And beyond the fact that they were partners, he had thought they had managed to become pretty close friends again after the fight, and that he was someone Abhijit trusted with his life.

_It was bad enough that ACP wanted Abhijit in a hotel. It was bad enough that the CID officers from the headquarters was involved. It was that much worse._ His mind helpfully supplied.

Daya clenched his jaw, but that should be the very reason that he was told because of those reasons. He was Abhijit's friend, he was supposed to back him up. How was he supposed to do that if he had no idea what was going on?

" Vikram ka maut ho chuka hai."

The words were so soft that they almost blended into the low humming from the radio. Once it registered what Abhijit had said, he almost sideswiped the backend of a parked car, twisting to look at him. It was only Abhijit leaning over and turning the steering wheel, the hard rubber feeling foreign in his suddenly numb hands that averted the accident.

It registered right away as to what had almost happened and he pulled himself together enough to get the car parked, pretty much straight, in the next available stall.

He threw the car in park, killed the engine and twisted in the seat so that he could get a better look at Abhijit in the dull light of the parkade.

" Kya ?"

Whatever life had come back to Abhijit in those brief moments seemed to have faded again. He was back to staring out the passenger window blankly, his hands curled into loose fists in his lap.

"Abhijit?" He prodded low.

His body stiffened, his hands momentarily clenching before suddenly he released his breath in a broken sigh.

"Vikram mar chuka hai."

He was still staring out the window and Daya itched to cup his cheek and force him to look at him. He forced the urge away and tightened his fingers around the steering wheel.

" Mar chuka hai ? "

It was human nature to want to know what happened and being a CID officer, made the drive to know worse but he kept the question locked behind his teeth. Now that Abhijit had finally started talking, he was certain that he would tell him in his own time. He understood shock, he finally understood what was wrong with his friend and knew that at this point, it would be easier on Abhijit to just let him get it all out in his own time.

Vikram was a very good friend of Abhijit, and even trained together. Later, when they both joined in their respective places and as news turned out, Vikram got promoted to the position of senior inspector in the Delhi headquarters at the same time, Abhijit also got promoted to the same position in Mumbai CID office.

Daya have heard of Vikram from Abhijit only thrice, and he mainly, have given into the fact that perhaps Abhijit has forgotten to introduce him due to his memory loss problem. But just a few months before, Vikram suddenly came into their lives, by meeting him at an airport. And only then, Daya came to meet Vikram through Abhijit. And only then, Daya came to know of Vikram, being one of Abhijit's good friends.

And it was only a week, Vikram came to Mumbai to stay at Abhijit's place, regarding a case on which he has a lead. And to suddenly hear the news of that very friend's death, seemed unlikely and out of place.

The memory of Vikash flickered and faded from his mind as Abhijit ran a shaky hand through his hair.

" Vikram living room ke floor mein paara hua tha. Unn logo ko yeh lagta hai ki uska step miss hokar sar coffee table je jakar takraya ."

It sounded farfetched to Daya but he knew from experience that occasionally accidents like that really did happen, so he ignored his instinct to question. And it was the last thing Abhijit needed, him slipping into investigator mode. But his instinct tells him that it was not a simple accident.

" Unn logo ko yeh lagta hai ki maine Vikram ko..ko " he glanced up, helplessly, at Daya, " uska position dekhkar-"

"Abhijit," Daya finally gave in and grabbed his shoulder, giving it a firm squeeze, " Dekho, waisa nahi hai. Sab theek ho jayega."

Sure, he had a couple of pieces and an understanding of what was going on but he was not prepared to sit back and watch his friend tear himself apart trying to explain.

Abhijit sank lower in the seat and covered his face with his hands.

" Aaj subaah Vikram se mera jagra hua tha. Woh akela jaana chahta hai uss suspect ko pakarne ke liye par maina usse jaane nahi diya."

The words were muffled but he could still understand them in the hollow stillness of the parkade, he could still hear the pain and the guilt that was tearing through his friend.

" Abhi..."

Abhijit laughed harshly, the sound close to a sob.

" Woh maarne se pehle maine usse yeh kaha ki agar woh mera baat nahi sunna chahta toh … toh maine usse aapne ghar se nikal jaane ko kaha."

Daya ignored the voice in the back of his head telling him that what he was thinking was a bad idea and leaned over until he could get his arm around Abhijit's shoulders. He tugged until Abhijit's shoulder was pressed up against his chest.

"Abhijit, tumhe yeh pata toh nahi tha ki aisa kuch hone waala hai."

He did an odd twisted curl, until his forehead replaced his shoulder.

" Akhri baar, Daya. Maine usse akhri baar wohi kaha tha."

Daya shut his eyes against the pain, he could hear so clearly and wrapped his free arm around him. He did not know what to say, did not think there really was anything that could be said to that.

Ignoring his own sadness at Abhijit's pain, he just held on.


	2. Chapter 2

Over the course of the next four days, Abhijit finally managed to get the whole story out, during the evenings when Daya would stop to check on the case in the bureau. It was a good thing that he knew because Arjun and Vicky, those two officers ,were barely speaking to him. He was not sure if it was because they were worried, he would grill them or if it was because they were feeling uncomfortable around him. If that was the case, he could not really understand why, it was not like they were investigating Abhijit, just the circumstances surrounding the death of his friend.

Or that was what he had thought.

" Inspector Daya, kya aap thori der ke liye mere saath aa sakte hai ?"

He glanced up from the paperwork he was reading and glanced at Vicky. Generally, when he was actually working on something, it annoyed him to be interrupted but since he had been going through Abhijit's old case files and cross referencing them against the whereabouts of the criminals, when technically he was not supposed to have anything to do with the case, he let it go. It was not like he could actually say anything to Vicky, unless he wanted to get hauled into ACP's office for a dressing down.

And how would that help Abhijit ?

" Theek hai, chaliye. "

He stood and followed Vicky out of the main room, past his subordinates, who glanced at them questioningly.

Maybe Vicky or Arjun or both of them were feeling bad for leaving him out of the loop. A part of him wanted to stop him there in the bureau and tell him that it was okay, that even though they might know more about what was happening in the investigation that Abhijit had already told him what had prompted it in the first place and unless they had anything definite, not to bother. He really did not want to go back to Abhijit's hotel room and tell him that the subordinates, they worked side by side with, the men that their ACP had so much faith in, still had nothing.

But he did not get the chance, nor did Vicky lead him outside. Instead he paused before the closed door of one of the three interrogation rooms.

What the hell?

Vicky opened the door and motioned for him to go in. " Under jaye, Inspector Daya."

Daya studied him silently, now that he was actually looking, he could see the stress lines around Vicky's eyes, the way his mouth was pressed into a thin bloodless line.

" Inspector Vicky, aakhir yaha ho kya raha hai ?"

He straightened his already tight shoulders and motioned towards the room again.

"Please, Daya."

He narrowed his eyes and briefly considered heading directly to ACP but in the end it would not make much difference. There was no way that their ACP sir did not already know what was going on, unless he was just jumping to the wrong idea and Vicky really did just want to share information with him. If they had figured out who had killed Vikram, that would account for the way Vicky was acting.

He rolled his shoulders to ease the sudden tension in them and walked through the door.

One of the two officers that had come to tell Abhijit that Vikram was dead, was sitting in an extra chair that had been dragged into the room, Arjun, like he had expected.

His steps faltered for a minute before he managed to gather his wits and throw himself down into one of the other unoccupied chairs. He made sure to pick the one on the same side as the officer, leaving Vicky to take the "hot seat" that was usually designated for suspects.

Daya had no idea what was going on but his gut was screaming that whatever it was, it was very, very bad and he refused to be intimidated.

First step to making sure they understood that was by taking an investigator seat. If they wanted him to shift seats then they were going to have to ask. And he would relent, he would move, all the way back to ACP's cabin, if that is how they wanted to play this out.

"Relax Inspector Daya." Arjun smiled at him, " Aap se kuch sawaal poochna tha."

" Kis cheez ke baare mein ?"

Daya ensured his voice remained calm but he did not try to hide the fact that he was looking the man over. If some CID officer was going to come into his house and try to play good cop with him, like he would have no clue, then he was not going to bother to try to disguise his scrutiny, fair was fair.

He was not much old, probably in the same age as him and there would be no way he could not chase down a suspect with his healthy figure with being able to hold his own in a fair fight, with waving dark hair and glasses. When he smiled, Daya could understand why he was regulated to the role of this position, it was a gentle smile that was probably very disarming, usually.

Daya, though, was not falling for it.

He caught Vicky shifting as he settled into the seat across from him and had to swallow a groan. If Arjun was going to be playing bad cop and Vicky was going to be playing good cop, Daya assumed he would be, this was going to turn into nothing but a bad joke.

" Inspector Daya. Mera naam toh aapko pata hi hai." He smiled his easy smile again.

Arjun extended his hand and it was habit that had him grasping it. Figuring he would look like an idiot if he pulled away now, he forced a smile and shook it.

He raised an eyebrow at both of them as he pulled away, " Yaha akhir ho kya raha hai ? Aap log kya sawal poochna chahte hai ? "

Vicky's demeanour shifted and suddenly he looked like he would rather be anywhere else than in that room. Even in his growing annoyance, Daya got that it had to be hard having to question a colleague, he would not want to have to do it. Still that little understanding did nothing to quell his anger.

"Daya, kuch saboot haath laga hai ki..." Vicky swallowed and hesitated, " Ki...uh..."

" Kya Abhijit ne kabhi bhi aapke saamne yeh kaha hai ki unke aur Vikram ke beech kuch nasamaj hui hai ?"

From what Daya had first thought was Arjun taking pity on Vicky and taking it upon himself to get the proceedings started, turned out to be closer to barely controlled anger, he realized when he looked back at him.

Maybe Arjun was not so adept at keeping his plastic smile on his face, after all.

" Kaisi nasamaj ?"

He was not sure what was going on yet but the idea forming was not one he was pleased with, at all.

" Abhijit ke bayaan ke mutabik unka yeh kehna hai ki Vikram ko ek case pe lead mila tha aur woh akela uss suspect ko pakarna chahta tha. Abhijit ko yeh manjoor nahi tha ki Vikram yeh kaam akela kaare aur unhone Vikram ko yeh bhi kaha ki backup lekar jaye. Vikram ne yeh baat nahi maani aur issi baat ko lekar unn dono ke beech kuch baehaas bhi hui. Aur ghusse mein Abhijit ne usse yeh bhi kaha ki agar woh unki baat nahi maana toh unhone usse aapne ghar se nikal jaane ko kaha tha. Aapko yeh thora ajeeb nahi lagta ?"

This Arjun, this CID officer, was trying to insinuate that Abhijit had something to do with Vikram's murder. This Arjun would have never met Abhijit if not for what had happened and here, he was drawing conclusions that he had no right to be making.

Daya turned and glared at Vicky accusingly, it was bad enough that someone who did not know Abhijit could think that but what was Vicky's excuse?

" Mujhe nahi lagta ki aap yeh theek keh rahe hai. Aap logo ko yeh lagta hai ki Abhijit ne ghusse mein Vikram ke upar hamla kiya jab Vikram ne uski baat nahi maani ? Yeh aapko kuch jyaada nahi lagta ? Aur waise bhi Abhijit waisa nahi hai."

Daya fought to keep his voice even. It would do no good to start yelling, no matter how it would help to alleviate some of the pressure building in his chest, it would not make them see that Abhijit was innocent any quicker.

" Daya, baat waisa nahi hai." Vicky said softly, " Darashal kuch saboot haath laga hai jo hume bohot muskil mein daal rakha hai."

" Toh mujhe woh saboot dikhaye."

Daya knew it came out demanding regardless of how he controlled his tone but they were sitting there accusing Abhijit of murder for God's sake. They were going to have to pony up before he offered them anything that might make things worse for his friend.

" Inspector Daya. Aapke paas woh position-"

Daya's head snapped toward Arjun, " Kya kaha aapne ?" He snarled, images of him and Abhijit working together in the CID , were flashing through his mind. Memories of all the times Abhijit had yelled for him to come get rid of a spider because, for all his bluff, he was not fond of them. Of how he and Abhijit teased each other mercilessly. Of laughter and tears, love and regret, late nights and hangovers and everything in between.

It was not possible. Abhijit was not capable of murder, shooting someone because of the job, yes, but cold-blooded murder, not a damn chance. Not the Abhijit he knew.

" Aap log waha baith kar yeh keh rahe hai ki Abhijit ne Vikram ka khoon kar diya hai. Aap log waisa soch bhi..."

His voice had risen steadily as he spoke but Vicky's soft words had no problem stealing his voice, his anger, the very air from his lungs.

" Hum logo ko aur kuch bhi aisa nahi mila jisse hum yeh keh saake ki uss samay ghar mein unn dono ke siba aur koi bhi tha ."

He had to close his eyes against the sudden sense of vertigo and swallow down the lump in his throat so he could drag in a harsh breath.

"Ky...Kya ?

" Obviously. Abhijit ke ghar mein hume kuch finger prints mile hai par ghar mein aisa koi forced entry karne ki koi nishan nahi hai. Aur toh aur padoshiyo se poochne par bhi unn logo ne wohi jawaab diya ki murder ke samay mein waha koi aur nahi tha sibai Abhijit aur Vikram ke."

Daya was pretty sure that Arjun was trying to remain clinical but his anger was tearing his detachment apart at the seams. Daya was not sure if he always got that upset during a murder investigation or if it was because of who Abhijit was, but he figured it was probably the latter. Law enforcement took it hard when one of their own was killed in the line of duty. They took it even worse when it turned out one of their own was dirty.

"Daya, sirf wohi nahi hai-" Vicky started but Arjun cut him off.

" Mujhe lagta hai ki Daya ko bohot kaha gaya hai. Mujhe lagta hai ki aab woh hum logo ke madad karenge."

Daya did not think he did, not really. His head was spinning and his stomach heaving and he was pretty sure they had missed something because the Abhijit he knew, could not have done what they were ready to accuse him of. In fact, he knew they had not gone about their jobs properly, not if they were willing to lay this all at Abhijit's feet based on the fact that there was no sign of forced entry. Vikram could have very well known his attacker, could have let him into the house.

And what about the prints?

They needed to be run, they had to be run, it was procedure.

" Nahi, mujhe nahi lagta."

Vicky snapped back, his control finally gone. " Hum dono ne ek senior officer par ek murder ka injaam lagaya hai aur woh bhi ek chota sa saboot par." He shook his head, " Mujhe yeh kuch theek nahi lag raha hai. Aur upar se hum dono ko poora soch samaj ke kadaam uthana chahiye kyunki hum log Senior officer Abhijit ke baare mein baat kar rahe hai. Aur waise bhi mujhe aisa nahi lagta ki woh aisa kabhi kar sakte hai."

Finally, it looks like a sense of normalcy was maybe appearing, but Daya was not an idiot. If Vicky had dragged him in here then he had to have more than what Arjun had been willing to tell him.

" Aur kya hai,Vicky ?"

Daya really did not want to know, he did not want to learn that the Abhijit he had known as a junior was not the same Abhijit he had reacquainted himself with as an adult. That somewhere amongst the time and distance, something had drastically changed in the heart of the man he had fallen to admire with, a decade before.

But he would sit there and listen very carefully to everything they had to say and God help Vicky and Arjun and even ACP, if he could find glaring holes in all their supposed evidence. Because if he could, then he was damn well going to and he would be going to everyone's superiors to point out that they were going with the easy answer instead of working to find the truth.

" Aisa toh abhi kuch nahi par hum log jald hi dhoondne ki koshish kar rahe hai. Par saboot toh Abhijit ke taraaf hi ishaara kar rahe hai." Vicky said softly.

_Did Abhijit know? _It was his first thought .

Still, that was not anything that was going to convince him of Abhijit's guilt.

"Toh ?" Arjun shrugged disdainfully, " Ismein kya hua ? Abhijit ne waise bhi bataya ki usse yeh sab saboot ke baare mein kuch bhi pata nahi."

Wait.

They had already spoken to Abhijit ? Had already accused him to his face ? The knowledge had to be eating him alive. Daya had to get out of that damn room and find him. They had not been in the car with Abhijit on the way to the hotel right after he had been told or seen what a mess Abhijit had been for the last couple days. To be accused now, damn, he did not want to think what it might entice him to do.

But first he had to put enough holes in their case that they would all be fighting to be the first to apologize to Abhijit.

" Toh aap sab log aab kar kya rahe hai ?" He crossed his arms over his chest.

Vicky sighed, "Daya, aise soch lo ki tum Abhijit ko nahi jaante." He raised an eyebrow and waited until Daya hesitantly nodded before continuing, " Pehli baat, uss samay Abhijit aur Vikram ke siba waha aur koi nahi tha. Dusri baat, Abhijit bureau mein late aata hai aur woh kuch ajeeb tarah se behave kar raha tha. Teesri baat, Abhijit ne khud kaha ke uss din subaah Vikram ke saath uska kuch bahas hua tha."

Daya swallowed hard, _Damn it!_

When Vicky asked him to think outside of his friendship with Abhijit, to think like an investigator, it was not looking good for his friend.

He ran a hand through his hair, maybe if he answered their questions they would show him everything they had, if for no other reason then because he was one of them now, just another person finding himself questioning his friend's innocence.

And maybe, just maybe he would find the hole that was not so clear right now.

God, he hoped so.

* * *

Daya knew he should not be there, he had managed to stay away for almost twenty-four hours, but he had to know. He had to know the truth and the only one that could give him that was Abhijit.

Actually, he was desperately hoping that Abhijit could explain everything away, that he could look Daya straight in the eye and show him the holes in the evidence that he could not see.

He needed that. He needed Abhijit to not be a murderer.

He had been right, once he had stopped trying to defend Abhijit and started answering Vicky and Arjun's questions, they were more than willing to share everything they had with him.

Turned out they had run all seven separate sets of fingerprints they had found in the house, all were identified but two and Abhijit admitted that he had come home to find a guy in his house that he did not know, one night with Vikram, so that accounted for one set. Chances were the other set was from another friend of Vikram's that Abhijit did not know about. One set was found on the coffee table and the other on an end table in the living room, they suggested guests but not something more sinister.

Then there was the position that Vikram was found in. What, at first glance could have been the scene of a tragic accident, at closer inspection looked suspicious. Vikram had fallen backwards and hit the left side of his head, hard enough to shatter his temporal bone, sending a shard into his brain, on the corner of the coffee table. Tripping on something and simply falling should not have produced enough momentum to do that much damage. Add the fact that the house had hard tile floors and there was nothing nearby to trip Vikram and it was looking more and more like he had been pushed.

And there were Abhijit's actions that morning, not really aiding his innocence by any means. Forgetting his cell at home, something that had never happened before, like there was something else on his mind and something trivial, like his cell, was just background noise. Dr. Salunkhe has set the time of death between seven and seven thirty am and Abhijit had been forty five minutes late. His behaviour, seeming lost and out of it before the officers even came to tell him about Vikram's death.

Some of it Daya could explain away himself.

The cell phone for instance, no one was perfect and he knew that Abhijit had fought with Vikram that very morning so that would make remembering his cell phone trivial. There had been a very bad traffic jam that morning, just like Abhijit had said, and traffic had to be rerouted around in a different way. His behaviour that morning again could be contributed to sadness. Who wouldn't be a little off after a fight with their friend.

But it was the other things that he could not explain away on his own that dug at him, that forced the ugly question of Abhijit's guilt into his mind.

Daya took a deep breath and forced himself to knock on the hotel room door. He knew he was risking everything by being there, he could lose his job now that he was privy to everything that the investigating team had. This was a bad idea on so many levels but he needed to see Abhijit, to search his eyes and try to discern the truth for himself.

He heard movement behind the door and then a moment later it opened just enough for Abhijit to glare out.

" Kya hai ?" He growled.

Ignoring the cold look in Abhijit's eyes and tried to smile, " Kya mujhe aander nahi bulaogi ?"

" Agar mujshe baat karna hai, toh mere lawyer se kyu baat nahi karte ? "

He had learned that Abhijit had lawyered up right after he had left the police station the morning before, right after his interview with the officers when he had been informed that he was the prime suspect in Vikram's murder. He was not surprised, who would be in that situation, but he could not help thinking about the old adage about an innocent man not needing a lawyer. He hated himself for it but then again he hated Abhijit a little bit too for making him feel that way in the first place.

" Please, Abhi."

He knew he should just walk away but he could not, not when there was still a chance that Abhijit could make him believe in him once more. He was resolutely ignoring the fact that it was his heart leading and not his head.

Abhijit snorted and shook his head but he finally opened the door wider. " Paach minute."

He was hoping that Abhijit was acting like this towards him because he had not been around for the last day when he knew he probably needed a sympathetic ear but he had a sneaking suspicion that that had nothing to do with it. Either he had found out that Daya had been talking to Vicky and Arjun or he was simply the enemy because of who he was. Either way it hurt a lot more than it should have considering they were close friends.

He followed Abhijit into the suite and leaned against the door he had just shut when he realized that he was not going to be permitted to go any further, Abhijit standing three feet in front of him.

When it became clear that Abhijit had no intention of doing anything other than crossing his arms over his chest and glaring daggers at him, he finally gave in and spoke first.

" Mujhe yeh kaho ki woh sab log galaat hai."

It was like Abhijit had just been waiting for him to speak and somehow Daya did not think that it would have mattered what he said that point. Abhijit was livid and he was not going to hide it.

" Kya unn logo ne tumse kuch nahi kaha, ki tum idhar chale aaye ? " He snarled.

" Kaha, lekin Abhi-" He demanded back, only to be cut off by Abhijit, his patience waning in the face of the attack. He was not sure what Abhijit's reaction would be when he got there but he had not expected it to be something like this.

" Tum mujhe support karna chahiye tha!" He crossed the small space between them until he was in his space. " Par tum ho ki-"

" Dekho, Abhijit, maine waisa kuch bhi nahi kiya jo tum samaj rahe ho."

" Accha." He snorted.

" Dekho, Abhijit, agar tum innocent ho..."

Abhijit's hands shot out, his fingers curled into his shirt collar and he slammed him against the door. " Agar main innocent hoon…. Agar ?"

Daya could only put up with so much, his nerves were already stretched too thin from a long sleepless night of lying in bed and trying to see the flaw in the investigation. And apart from that, he is more taken aback at witnessing Abhijit's anger.

To find the one thing that had been missed, misread or misconstrued. Anything that would settle the ache deep inside him, that would make him the friend he was supposed to be. Make Abhijit the innocent man he needed him to be.

He grabbed Abhijit's wrists and pulled his hands away, ignoring the sound of threads tearing and pushed him back out of his space. He could not allow him to be that close, not when the part of him just wanted to protect him, protect them from this. And the other side of him just wanted to beat the hell out of him for being someone who could kill someone in cold blood.

" Haan Abhijit, agar. Tumhare paas aisa kuch saboot hai jisse tum yeh keh sako ki yeh saare evidence galaat hai "

" Agar main du bhi toh court mein kabhi hold nahi karega kyunki yeh sab circumstancial hai !" He yelled back.

A sudden banging on the wall reminded both of them that they really were not anywhere private.

Abhijit ground his teeth together, "Isliye unn logo ne mujhe abhi tak arrest nahi kiya kyunki aise mujhe koi jury convict nahi kar sakta." His voice was lower but no less angry.

" Mujhe iss se jyaada chahiye." He did not want to plead but damn it, he wanted so badly to be wrong. "Please Abhijit. Main aapna career jokhim mein dalkar yaha aaya hoon kyunki main tumhare upar biswas karna chahta hoon."

Abhijit pinched the bridge of his nose, "Main khali aapna jubaan de sakta hoon aur woh tumhare liye kaphi nahi hai. Toh niklo yaha se."

"Abhijit..."

He turned on his heel and started moving further into the suite. "Bureau call karne se pehle niklo yaha se, Daya. Nahi toh tumhara career barbad ho jayega aur waise bhi mere liye aapna career barbad karne koi jaroorat nahi hai."

Daya swallowed against the burning in the back of his throat and silently slid out the door.

* * *

The next morning, Abhijit walked into the bureau but instead of the usual dark suit, he was wearing soft looking light blue jeans, a grey shirt and a black leather jacket.

He did not bother looking at Daya or any other, including his subordinates, choosing instead to walk directly to ACP's office, with his head held high and knocked lightly on the door.

Daya later learned that ACP had called Abhijit in to let him know that he was suspended until the investigation was over.

But Abhijit had gone one step further. He had handed over his letter of resignation, along with his gun and his badge, stating that it was not possible for him to work with people that questioned his innocence, despite Freddy's cries.

And never even glancing at others, he left the bureau.

Daya bit his lip and tried to convince himself that the ache in his chest was not his heart breaking because of Abhijit for another time in his life.


	3. Chapter 3

Pune, La itas Apartment  
August 2, 2012

Abhijit let himself into his apartment, leaned his forehead against the door and sighed.

Even after three months, Vikram's ghost still managed to rise up and bite him in the back.

It was the reason he had left Mumbai three months earlier. It did not seem to matter that he had quit the CID, sold his home and moved across town, there was always something.

In Mumbai, Vikram had been murdered and his long time friend, Abhijit , had done the deed. No one questioned it, no one defended him, and his name had become blight.

So, in an attempt to move on with his life, to get back the anonymity that most people inherently had, he ran to Pune.

It had not been so bad, relocating. It did not feel so disconcerting when he had first gotten there. And there was always the bonus that no one stopped to stare at him, people did not whisper behind his back as he passed. It was like no one in Pune had ever heard of Abhijit or Vikram , or if they had, it had long since been forgotten. Probably because it was not in their town so it did not really affect them, God bless the lack of affinity that affect mankind as a whole.

He had been so close to just giving up and ending everything back in Mumbai , positive that he was never going to be able to move past what had happened, that he was always going to be considered a murderer. But moving to Pune had been like getting a chance at a clean slate, a second chance to be more than Abhijit , suspected murderer.

He had managed to find his apartment right away and his choice to become self employed seemed like the best one, no one calling for references, no questions as to why he had decided to leave the CID. And his luck had held for a change, it turned out that companies were more than willing to hire him as a security consultant, especially if he let it slip that he used to be an CID officer. Apparently, being a freelance consultant meant that he was never asked why he no longer was one, he guessed that they assumed that because he was obviously still young, healthy and fit that he had suffered something so dramatic that he could not do the job anymore. It was the truth but no one knew exactly what had driven him from the CID and he never felt the need to explain why.

But, when it was all said and done, he still felt that moving back to Pune had been for the best.

At least, until one day.

No one had ever accused Abhijit of being an optimist, he knew he could not be the only person to move from Mumbai to Pune but he had never been pessimistic enough to think that he would run into someone from back there. Someone who would recognize him and instantly recall why they knew him but he had.

He never did catch her name, the woman who was working as the vice president to the CEO of the same big industry, where he himself is the security consultant. But it did not matter, the damage was already done and he did not need to know her name to know she was the reason.

With a groan, Abhijit finally pushed away from the door, absently leaving his laptop and his folders, by the entrance and headed into the kitchen area of his apartment.

It had come as an unpleasant shock, coming face to face with someone that knew him, knew what he had been accused of and it had taken all of his willpower not to turn tail and run. It would not have been like that if he was still in Mumbai, there he had learned to ignore that first look of shocked recognition that quickly morphed into fear, mixed with hatred. But he had let himself believe that he had escaped the stigmatism of being Abhijit , disgraced CID officer and suspected murderer when he had left Mumbai. He should have known better, he should have been prepared.

Silently, he walked over to the couch, resolutely ignoring the flashing red light of the answering machine letting him know that he had a message waiting, and he did not want to hear any message right now.

Again his eyes fell on the answering machine and the blinking red light, blankly reminding him that someone had thought about him, someone wanted to speak to him.

It sounded better than what it was.

Abhijit groaned and swallowed half the glass of water in one go.

He had tried and was still trying to put it all behind him. He had started his business at the bottom, with no connections, no real references, other than his own ability to sell himself and a couple of newspaper clippings that he himself had saved mentioning his name and that he was, at that time, CID officer. And he had done it, he had proven himself, proven that he was more than smoke and mirrors. That he really was adept as seeing the flaws, all of the flaws, in a company's security system and he knew how to fix it.

In two short months, he had gained a name for himself and excellent business references. But with one brief encounter, everything he had built for himself may very well be crumbling at his feet for a second time.

Abhijit was not sure he could survive it again.

* * *

It was the pain in the small of Abhijit's back that chased him out of his sleep and straight into his hangover. He groaned softly in deference to the pounding in his head and slowly cracked his eyes open.

He was still on the couch, slumped over on his side, which explained why his back muscles were protesting, loudly, and his shoes were still on.

It was Saturday and he did not have anything more pressing than going out and getting groceries, so who was to say that he could not just sit there all day alone and pathetic.

Swallowing heavily once more, he forced himself to his feet. He did, that was who. His life might be all screwed up for the second time in under these months but that did not give him the right to just sit and wallow in self-pity. If what had happened to Vikram and the subsequent upheaval of his life had not stopped him, neither would this.

So maybe he had let his fear and doubts get the better of him , everyone was allowed to falter occasionally. It did not mean they just stopped fighting, that they stopped trying.

The blinking red light caught in his peripheral again as he moved past, getting up. And after his shower he would deal with that, after he felt a little more human and a little less of a failure.

_I'm not a failure._

He berated himself silently, as he used the counter for support for his shaking legs and making sure to keep his head as high as possible to get away from the fumes.

Everything had just happened too quickly, in rapid succession and he had not allowed himself to deal with any of it. Going back to Mumbai to place flowers on Vikram's grave had been so fucking hard. Maybe if he had opted to fly instead of driving it would have been better but he had wanted to see as few people as possible, less chance of someone recognizing him and getting the look. It had worked, other than the motel clerk and some other mourners at the cemetery, who luckily, had not been there to see Vikram, he had managed to slip in and out of town virtually unnoticed. But it gave him hours on the road to remember, to think, to get angry all over again. And instead of dealing with it, with the emotions, he had just forced it all back into a corner of his mind, promising himself that he would deal with it later. But, even then, he had known that later would not come, at least, not soon. After all, he had to take a couple days to drive down and back which pushed a week's worth of work into three days and if he wanted to prove himself, he had to be reliable so something as trivial as personal emotions needed to be set aside.

Of course that had only worked until he went to his mailbox and found a sympathy card waiting for him from, of all people, Vicky and Arjun. It did not say anything beyond the usual tripe with their signatures scrawled at the bottom but it did not need to, he got the message. They had not forgotten Vikram, nor their belief that he was guilty and he should not forget either.

At first he had been pissed off and had considered lodging a complaint against them but what would be the point ?

They would either get a slap on the wrist or, more likely because everyone still believed him to be guilty, they would not.

Still he might not have suffered his mini-blow-out that day if it had not been the reaction of the woman at some hotshot big industry. That had been the straw that broke the proverbial camel's back, or more to the point, the fear that the life he had tried so hard to build for himself in these last months was over before it really had a chance to begin.

He could put up with a lot, Vikram's death, being pegged as a murderer, even Daya losing faith in him had become less of an ache, and more of a painful memory, and taunting cards. But losing everything again, having to relocate again, just seemed like too much to pay. He got it, really, in some masochistic way, that what had happened in Mumbai was his fault, if he had just been a better confident and friend, maybe what had happened would not have. But he was also pretty sure he had already lost enough, paid enough, even he should be allowed to have some semblance of a life.

Should not he ?

A knocking on his door pulled him away from his thoughts and probably not a moment too soon, thoughts like that would either send him back into his hell or just make him livid and he could not afford to be either, his pounding head could not afford him to be either.

For a minute he considered ignoring whoever was on the other side of his door. Taking a deep breath, he pushed away from the counter and forced his legs to carry him to the door, ignoring how heavy his feet felt, still encased in his socks, and how just crossing the room caused him to break out in sweats. All he had to do was get rid of whoever was at his door and then he could take that long hot shower and maybe go back to bed until the worse of his hangover passed. That would not be pathetic, it made sense to sleep until he, at least, had the stamina to cross the room or how else was he going to survive the grocery store?

Forcing a weak smile on his face, he pulled the deadbolt free and opened the door.

It had to be some sort of cosmic joke and it was the only thing to explain why Daya was on the other side of the door. Just what he needed, another one of them reminding him of his failure, and now of all times.

And before Abhijit could do anything, Daya wrapped his whole figure around him in a bone crushing hug, nearly cutting off his air supply, backing him off until his back hit the wall.

Whatever Abhijit was about to say was lost in his lips when he felt Daya shaking. Trying to see Daya, he tried to come out of the hug, but that only resulted in the tightening of his grip.

" Daya, kya kar rahe ho ? Dimaag kharab hai kya ? Choro…" Abhijit said, all the while trying to remove himself from Daya, but in vain.

_Great. Just great._

Having no choice, Abhijit surrendered.

" Ho gaya ?"Abhijit asked with disdain in his voice.

" Kya ho gaya ? Tumhe shayaad pata nahi, Abhijit, par mujhe abhi bohot ghusa aa raha hai." Daya replied while releasing Abhijit sniffing, " Kyu kiya tumne aisa ?"

" Maine aisa kuch bhi nahi kiya samjhe. Jo kiya theek hi kiya."

" Tumhe pata bhi hai hum logo ke upar kya bit rahi thi inn mahino mein ? Tum kisi ko bina kuch batae chale gaye. Hum logo ne tumhe kaha kaha nahi dhoonda par tum kahi nahi mile. Aur pata hai, ACP sir kitna pareshan hai ?"

" Aur kuch kehna hai ?"

" Yeh tumhe ho kya gaya hai, Abhijit ? Tum bilkul badal gaye ho."

" Mujhe kuch nahi hua hai. Baas yehi soch raha hoon ki agar shayaad uss din accident mein main hota toh shayaad aaj yeh din nahi dekhna nahi parta."

" Accident ? Kya tumhe kuch hua hai ?"

" Daya, please jao yaha se. Mera dimaag maat khao aur waise bhi mera tabiyaet kuch theek nahi hai." Abhijit said wearingly, moving out of Daya's range of stance.

But felt himself tumbling when felt the gentle but firm grip of Daya's hand on his wrist, stopping his attempt to get away from him.

" Abhijit, jao naha ke aao. Phir hum log baat karenge." Daya said softly.

And without saying a word, Abhijit turned and moved upstairs, never noticing the sad gaze of Daya.


	4. Chapter 4

It ended up taking Abhijit a little longer in the shower then he had first guessed but he really had needed the time to sort his head out and prepare for what lay ahead. He wanted to believe that they believed him but he had been where they were, desperate for a confession and willing to resort to whatever means available to him to get one.

But on the other hand, it was Daya in his apartment, not Arjun and Vicky but Daya. But that did not deter from the fact that it was Daya in his home. Daya, who had never been able to completely mask his emotions from Abhijit. It was one of the reasons he did it, because he knew that Daya still cared, that there was still something between them.

Just like he had seen the guilt in his eyes as they stood by the door, he just needed to be convinced it was really what he was seeing before he dared to hope.

After he managed to settle himself some and finally stepped out of the shower. Dressing himself, he went down only to step back in shock.

Not only Daya, but Freddy, Rajat, Sachin are also present, who are now looking at him like they had seen a ghost.

" Abhijit sir." Freddy exclaimed happily, embracing Abhijit.

Daya almost laughed at Abhijit's expression, who looked quite shocked at Freddy's behavior.

" Sir, aap itne din kaha the ? Pata hai, aapke bina humara kisi ka mood acha nahi tha. Aur aapne bina batae aise kyun chale aaye ? Pata hai hum logo ko kitna chinta hua tha ? ACP sir ke toh heart attack hi aane waala tha. Aur sir, pata hai, Rajat sir ne toh ek informer ko maar hi dalta upke information nikalne mein ki aap kaha gaye the."

" Freddy, aisa kuch bhi nahi hai." Rajat said embarrassingly.

Distangling himself from Freddy, Abhijit looked at all of them in the eyes, then directly at Daya.

" Tumhe yeh address kaha se mila ? Maine toh yeh address kisi ko nahi bataya."

" Main tumhara dost hoon, Abhijit. Tumse toh thora kuch sikha hi hai. Toh yeh kya cheez hai ? "

That elicited a smile on Abhijit's lips.

" Abhijit sir, please Mumbai waapas chaliye."Sachin said softly.

" Mumbai ?"

" Haan Abhijit. Mumbai, aur woh bhi CID mein wapaas."

" CID mein wapaas ?" Abhijit enquiried with a questioning gaze on Daya.

" Haan sir. CID mein hi aapke liye theek hai. Yeh aap abhi humare Abhijit sir nahi lagte." Rajat said.

" Aur dekho, Abhijit. Naa, maat karna. Itne mahine ke baad hum logo ko tumhe mila hai aur ACP sir ne bhi tumhe wapaas bulaya hai. Aur Dr. Salunkhe ne bhi ACP sir ka dimaag garaam kar diya hai tumhare baare mein poochte poochte. Aur Tareeka bhi tumhare liye humesha ruka rehte hai ki tum kab aaoge."

" Nahi."

" Nahi ? Kya nahi ? Hum log koi bhi yaha se khali haath nahi jaane waale, samaj gaye tum ?"

" Jo karna hai, karlo. Main aur kahi nahi jaane waala. Aur waise bhi jaake kya faida ? Ek khooni ko tum CID mein rakhogi ? Jao Daya, aur bohot officers milenge mere jagaah mein lane ke liye. Mera picha chor do."\

" Yeh kya bachpana laga ke rakha hai, hain Abhijit ? Tum abhi ke abhi humare saath aate ho ya nahi ? "

" Achha, warna kya karogi tum ?"

" Tumhe shayaad pata nahi hai ki hum log yaha chaar hai aur tum khali ek ho. Toh tum aise hi harogi agar hum logo ko rokhne ki koshish ki." Daya almost said smugly, taking satisfaction at the incredulous expression on Abhijit's face.

" Tum toh pehle aise nahi the. Kab kaha kidhar kya badal gaya ?"

" Tumhare saath reh reh ke mera aisa halaat hua hai. Aab choro woh sab, aab aaogi ya nahi ya uthake le jaana parega ?"

" Aise hi ? Kuch reason do."

" Toh baitho idhar." Daya said tugging Abhijit down close to him on the couch and gave him a piece of paper.

Abhijit glanced down at it, at the list of nine different names and either Mumbai, Pune or Bangalore jotted down beside each.

" Yeh kya hai ?"

Daya met his eyes, his were serious but a hint of anger danced in their depths.

"Ek serial killer ka score card."

A serial killer ?

He looked back down at the list, he did not recognize any of the names but he could see enough to know that whoever the guy was, he did not seem to be particularly selective. But he knew from experience that every serial killer had a pattern, a particular victim that they preferred, unfortunately, sometimes the pattern was not understood until after the killer was caught.

He looked between the two of them, a lot of questions were bouncing around in his head, almost too many to count and all vying to be first. He opened his mouth and then snapped it shut without uttering a word. It annoyed him, it made him feel like a rookie, like a newbie back at CID and that he was just staring at a professor knowing that if he did not ask the right questions, in the right order, that he was going to get called on it. He hated the feeling and worse, right now, he felt like he deserved it.

Damn it.

He was not part of the organization anymore, the right questions, and the right order, none of that mattered. What mattered was that somehow this is related to Vikram and he needed to know how.

He glanced back at the list, " Toh che aadmi Mumbai mein phir kuch nahi. Aur phir se yaha Pune mein ek saptah pehle." He looked back to Daya, " Inn sab mein Vikram ke saath kya connection hai ?"

" Sachin ne yeh pata kiya hai."

Abhijit looked over at Sachin , he could barely admit it to himself but there was a lot more hope in his chest then there should probably be. He swallowed hard and could only pray that his voice remained neutral. " Batao."

" Darashal sir, mera ek dost ka group hai jo har Saturday ko mila kiya karte hai. Waha mera ek dost hai jo ki ek private detective hai, Rajan. Rajan ek case mein involved tha jismein victim ko ghar mein maara hua mila tha. Sar mein kisi bhari cheez se mara gaya hai aur lagbhag kehne ke liye, bohot khoon beh chuka hai. Aur victim ka marne ka timing bhi saat aur chaare saat ke beech tha."

Abhijit sat back in his chair, thinking. Some of what Sachin was saying was so very similar to Vikram that it sent chills down his spine. But it was not enough of a connection for him.

"Okay." He nodded before he shrugged, "Phir..."

"Ek saptah pehle," Sachin continued, " ek aur male victim tha. Khali victim alaag tha. Baaki sab same hi tha. Sar pe kisi bhari cheez se waar kiya gaya, khoon bhi waise hi bohot beh chuka hai aur timing bhi saat se chaare saat ke beech mein tha. Aur sir, inn dono ke murder scene mein kuch unidentified fingerprints bhi mila tha."

Abhijit's head was spinning and he felt the floor shifting beneath his chair. He wanted to think that it was the last of his hangover kicking his head but he really did not believe it was. He was so close to proving his innocence and yet so far.

" Abhijit ?"

He blinked and turned to look at Daya. The concern in that one word was enough to focus him.

" Haan," he rubbed a hand over his face, "Yeh Bangalore murders ke saath kya connection hai ?"

Daya was subdued and Abhijit did not like the concerned look on his face but he let it go, for now.

" Waha ke local cops ko already pata chal gaya tha ki unke seher mein ek serial killer kaam kar rahe hai aur maine waha se pata kiya toh wohi baat pata chala ki woh serial killer ek hi hai. Poora ka poora details same hai, sir, kuch bhi alaag nahi hai."

He could feel the familiar tingle of excitement humming through his veins. It was something he had been able to ignore up until then, more concerned to see the personal connection between what they were telling him and Vikram and himself. But he had been trained to look at the bigger picture and, it he was going to be honest, he liked puzzles, he liked being able to solve them.

" Tumne Mumbai aur Pune ka connection kaisa nikala ?"

Abhijit hated to ask because it kind of felt like cutting his own nose off in spite of his face but he had to know. He had to know if there was a legitimate reason for him to believe that he could finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. " Aur theek hai, inn sab ka connections toh theek hai. Par Sachin, tum itne dabey ke saath kaise keh sakte ho ki yeh ek hi aadmi hai ?"

Sachin was nodding and the look on his face was one of respect. " Sir, darashal, baat yeh hai ki jab maine ek pattern notice kiya, toh maine dekha ki yeh pattern kahi aur repeat hua hai kya. Maine computer mein dekha aur pata chal gaya." He picked up a piece of paper and handed it to Abhijit. " Yeh dekhiye,sir. Aakhri victim ka death ka date dekhiye Pune ka."

He scanned down the page, "April 7, 2012."

"Vikram se ek saptah pehle." Daya pointed out .

Sachin continued , " Hume lagta hai ki shayaad khooni ko koi alaag scenery chahiye tha. Mumbai chala gaya aur Vikram ko mil gaya..."

His voice petered out and he glanced down uncomfortable. Abhijit was not sure if it was because they were hitting sensitive territory or if it was something else. He glanced over at Daya to see him fiddling with some of the papers in front of him and he shook his head. If this was because of what happened, he appreciated it, he really did, but it was not necessary, not now. They all knew what had happened, there was no need to pussy foot around the subject, unless that was not the only reason.

" Kya hua?" He asked slowly, " Mera matlab, hai ki, agar baat Vikram ke personal life ke baare mein hai toh main samaj sakta hoon."

" Darashal, baat woh nahi hai, sir." Sachin hedged.

That did not sound good, "Toh phir kya hai ?"

Was it possible that this was all conjecture ? Had they gotten his hopes up for nothing ?

Daya blew out a breath, "Abhi. Maine investigation ke reports ko gaur se dekha hai. Mujhe pata hai ki tumne kya kaha hai aur unn logo ne tumhare baare mein kya kaha hai."

Abhijit kind of greyed out for a minute. In the back of his head, he had always known that Daya had been privy to, at least, some of the investigation. But he had always hoped not all of it because they had tried to use his friendship against him and he never wanted him to know about that or his reaction.

* * *

"_Dekho, Abhijit. Hume pata hai ki yeh tumne kiya hai pa-."_

_Abhijit glared at the officer Arjun , he was pretty sure the guy had said that was his name when they had first met but at first, he was too worried about what could have possibly happened that they had come to work to speak with him and then later, too lost in the reality of the situation to care._

_The lack of knowing the man's name did not stop him from cutting him off, "Mujhe badnaam karne se pehle shayaad aap logo aapna kaam karna chahiye."_

_"Par hume pata nahi hai ki Inspector Daya bhi ismein saamil hai ya nahi."_

_The words, the consideration, stole his breath away. It was bad enough that they were doing this to him but to pull Daya into it, that was insanity at its best. The officer had to be bluffing, it had to be just another way of trying to get at him, trying to get him to confess to what had happened to Vikram._

_He spun in his chair so that he could face Vicky head on, " Daya ko inn saabke beech mein maat khisiyein"._

_He was not begging but it was close. "Aap log toh waise bhi mere upar yeh injaam laga rahe hai, agar aap log mujhe biswas nahi karna chahte toh theek hai par yeh toh biswas kijiye ki Daya ke haath inn sab mein nahi hai."_

_Vicky had held up pretty well for a guy that had to interrogate a colleague, a friend, but at Abhijit's pleading, something in him cracked momentarily and he cut his eyes to Arjun. If Abhijit had not been watching closely, he never would have seen it but he had and he got what the look meant. He felt kind of stupid for almost falling for such a classic play but when it came to Daya, sometimes, he had problems thinking straight. _

_He forced his body to relax back in the chair and crossed his arms over his chest. They could not pin anything on Daya since they had less than nothing on him._

" _Lekin evidence toh kuch aur hi kehta hai."_

_Abhijit almost laughed, it was bad enough that he almost fell for it but it was just pathetic that this idiot officer was not going to let it go even though he had just called his bluff. He was however, going to let him continue, let him bury himself because when it was all said and done, he was going to let Daya in on what the officer said and let him decide what he wanted to do with the information._

"_Hume pata hai ki aap aur Daya kaafi aacha dost bhi hai. Aur hume yeh bhi pata hai ki yeh baat criminals ko bhi pata hai." _

_He raised an eyebrow, "Accha ? Shayaad maine woh baat notice nahi kiya."_

_Arjun leaned forward, his face starting to darken with frustration or rage, Abhijit did not know and did not really care._

" _Mujhe kyun aisa lagta hai ki aap yeh sab kuch aapke dosti ke khatir kar rahe hai. Aap dono ki dosti aise hai ki ek ko bachane ke liye woh dusra kuch bhi kar sakta hai. Yeh baat sach hai ya nahi__ ?"_

_Out of the corner of his eye, he caught Vicky fidgeting slightly. There was no question who had mentioned that little fact. Trust Vicky to have noticed that truth._

_He could not help the bark of harsh laughter, it was either that or lose his temper and he knew that would not end well or help Daya or himself anyway. _

"_Aap kya chahte hai ki main kya kahu ?Main sirf Daya ke saath hi waisa nahi hoon balki sab ke saath, yani ki poore mere team ke saath hoon. Main aapne team ke liye kuch bhi, kuch bhi haad tak ja sakta hoon, kyunki woh log mere parivaar jaisa hai. Aur yeh baat sirf CID bureau mein nahi balki Forensic Departmnet ke liye bhi hai." _

_Arjun glared at him. " Yeh sehat ke liye kuch theek nahi hai."_

_Abhijit could hear it in his voice that he was finally realizing that his ploy to try to get him to confess was useless. He could not believe that he had really thought it would end any other way. He knew Abhijit was also a CID officer, he knew that he would have been trained in the same interrogation tactics._

"_Theek hai." He grumbled and pushed away from the table. "Mujhe lagta hai ki yeh sab bohot ho gaya mujshe ugal waaneke liye jis kaam ko maine kiya hi nahi. Toh aap logo ko aur koi kaam nahi hai toh main yaha se ja raha hoon. Mujhe ek funeral plan karna hai."_

_Arjun stood and moved to stand in front of the door. "Humara kaam abhi bhi khatam nahi hua hai."_

"_Dekhiye," Abhijit was hanging onto his patience by a thread, a very thin, fraying thread. "Maine saab sach sach bata diya hai. Aap logo ne jo jo behuda sawal kiya hai unn sab ka maine jawaab de diya hai aur upar se aap logo ne Daya ko bhi beech mein ghaseet liya. Aab bohot ho gaya. Ya toh mujhe arrest kijiye ya mere raaste se haat jayein."_

"_Agar aap yaha nahi baitha toh Daya ko bhi hum issi room mein ghasit ke lekar ayenge." Arjun threatened low._

_He was certain, well relatively certain that the officer was bluffing, and he was still leaving. If he was wrong and they really did drag Daya down here, he would make it up to him later. _

_Abhijit pushed past the officer and pulled the door open, pausing only long enough to lock gazes with them, " Jayein. Maine kaab mana kiya ?"_

* * *

Abhijit came back to the moment to Daya chewing on his bottom lip and looking almost sick.

" Dekho, Abhijit. Agar Vikram tumse kuch chupa raha tha toh tum hume keh sakte ho."

That was what he was talking about ?

He was wondering if Abhijit was hidden from some cases relating to Vikram . He could not decide if he was relieved that Daya seemed to have forgiven him for being dragged into the investigation as a suspect or Arjun had really been bluffing and nothing ever came from his threat. Or if he should be worried about the, now familiar, tension he was feeling. This could be the trap he had been waiting for them to try to spring.

Not that it really mattered, because his answer was the same as it had been those months ago.

"Nahi." He shrugged at Daya's incredulous look, " Dekho, Vikram Delhi CID se hai. Isliye woh mujhe kabhi bhi iss case ke baare mein kuch nahi kaha aur na hi maine usse kuch pucha. Jaha tak uss din khayaal hai uss din bhi usne mujhe kuch nahi bataya, khali mujhe yeh kaha ki woh akele ek suspect ko pakarne ja rahe hai. Aur upar se woh akela jana chahte the. Tum bhi ek CID officer ho, Daya, toh tumhi kaho ki kya Vikram ko akela jana chahiye ? Maine usse kitni baar kaha ki backup lekar jao par woh sun ne ko taiyar hi nahi tha. Pata nahi, woh suspect aisa kaun hai jo Vikram yeh nahi chahta tha ki usse koi aur dekhe."

" Humare paas ek naam hai, Abhijit. Hum logo ne Delhi mein ja ke Vikram ke bahan se mila toh usne hume yeh bataya ki ek Abhilash naam ka koi aadmi hai jiske baare mein Vikram kuch dino se piche para hua tha. Aur jyaada usse kuch nahi pata. Baas itna hi pata chala unse." Daya said as he handed over a composite sketch to Abhijit. " Lagbhag tumhare height ka hai."

Abhijit stared down at the police sketch. There was nothing remarkable about the suspect, nothing that would make him stand out from anyone else.

" Tumne CID ka database check kiya ? "

It was a long shot and he did not really believe that he would have heard all the background information first if they already had the suspect in custody but he had to ask.

" Database koi Abhilash nahi hai. Aur maine humare sab poorane records bhi check kiya aur usmein bhi kuch nahi hai." Daya grumbled, "Yeh Abhilash ka naam bhi kahi nahi hai aur toh aur hum logo ne Delhi mein jaake waha ke CID records ko bhi dekha, par nahi, kahi koi iss Abhilash ka naam nahi hai."

Abhijit knew it had been a long shot but it did not stop the sting of disappointment.

Abhijit stared down at the sketch and then a thought struck him.

" Tumne kaha tha kai yeh serial killer apna kaam Pune mein kaar raha tha aur achanak usne Mumbai mein aapke kaam tamaam kaar diya. Yeh thora kuch ajeeb nahi lagta tumhein ?

Daya nodded, " Lagat toh kuch waisa hi hai. Aur yeh baat hum logo ko bhi ajeeb laga."

" Par sir, Vikram aisa kya jaanta tha jiske karaan uska maut ho gaya?" Rajat asked, his voice brimming with curiousity.

" Wohi toh problem hai." Daya said,suddenly turning to Abhijit, " Abhijit, mujhe lagta hai ki yeh Vikram kuch jaanta tha iss Abhilash ke baare mein."

" Agar uska khooni Abhilash nikla toh. Tum logo ke paas toh pakka saboot bhi nahi hai ki Vikram ka khooni yeh Abhilash hi hai."

" Haan, woh baat toh hai aur Abhijit, hume lagta hai ki tumhare jaan ko khatra hai." Daya said cautiously.

"Jaan ko khatra ?" Abhijit said with a wry smile, " Yeh koi nayi baat thori naa hai. Jab CID mein tha tab bhi khatra aur aab jab CID mein nahi hota hoon, tab bhi khatra. Chalo, theek hai, thori der ke liye yeh maan leta hoon ki mere jaan ko khatra hai. Par kis se ? Iss Abhilash se ? "

" Haan. Hume kuch waisa hi lagta hai." Daya said silently.

" Kyun ? "

" Kyun se matlab ? Dekho, Abhijit, tum shayaad yeh bhul rahe ho ki Vikram ke maut iss Abhilash ke baaje se hua hai. Pata nahi,par mujhe kyun aisa lagta hai ki Vikram case ke baare mein jaroor kuch jaanta tha. Aur isse pehle ki Vikram woh baat kisi aur ko batata, usse raaste se haata diya. Aur yeh baat jaroor bohot baara baat hai tabhi toh Abhilash ne apna pattern change karke Vikram ke piche gaya."

" Aur tumhe yeh lagta hai ki aab yeh Abhilash mere piche paarne waala hai kyunki aab Abhilash ko yeh lagta hai woh raaj joVikram ke paas tha aab mere paas hai."

" Haan. Aur sirf hume nahi balki ACP sir ko bhi yehi lagta hai."

" ACP sir ?"

" Haan. ACP sir bhi. Abhijit, hum sab ko pata hai ki Vikram ke maut mein tumhara koi haath nahi hai. Humlogo ko poora yakeen hai ki tum kabhi waisa kar hi nahi sakte."

The others too voiced their opinions, supporting Daya, ignoring their senior's silence in this matter.

And for a few seconds, it stayed that way with Freddy breaking the silence.

" Abhijit sir, aap kya soch rahe hai ?"

" Vikram ke baare mein. Ussne mujshe kabhi kisi case ke silsile mein baat nahi ki. Toh tumlog yeh kaise keh sakte ho ki uska raaj mere paas hai ? Main toh yeh bhi nahi jaanta ki Vikram kaunse case pe kaam kar raha tha aur woh raaz toh bohot dur ki baat hai."

" Paar Abhilash toh aisa nahi sochega. Usse toh yehi lagega ki Vikram ne maarne se pehle woh raaz tumhe de diya kyunki woh tumhare saath reh rahe the, toh aisa soch maan mein aana toh common hai." Daya said in a tense voice.

* * *

" Tumlog iss Abhilash ko pakarne jaa rahe ho ? Agar jaa rahe ho, toh mujshe bhi jaa raha hoon." Abhijit addressed them in a commanding voice, after sometime.

Sachin was collecting together the paperwork that had been spread over the dining room table and looked up in alarm at his senior's words, including others.

" Abhijit sir, aab iss plan mein nahi hai." Sachin looked up from shoving everything back into the folders.

"Kyun ?"

"Abhijit, ACP sir tumhe protective custody mein rakhna chahte hai." Daya admitted quietly, almost like he was expecting him to blow up .

" Kyun ?"

" Abhijit, ussne Vikram ko dhoond ke nikalke raaste se haata diya aur tum yeh keh rahe ho ki tum uske agle number nahi ho. Maine headquarters se poocha tha Vikram ke case ke baare mein. Jyaada kuch toh nahi bataya unn logone khali yeh bataya ki Vikram tumhare saath reh raha tha, yeh baat unn logoko bhi aandaza nahi tha. Yani ki samaj lena, Abhijit, ki aisa koi hai jo Vikram ke upar nazaar rakh raha tha aur saath mein tumhara bhi. Aur aab yeh case media waalo ne toh sab papers mein publish kabka kar diya, toh tumhe dhoondne mein toh itna muskil nahi hoga."

" Paar aisa ho kaise sakta hai ? Main Pune mein hoon, yeh baat toh kisi ko bhi pata nahi hai. Phone directory mein mera naam nahi hai aur upar se mere business cards mein bhi mera sirf postal address hi hai. Toh kisi ko kaisa pata hoga ki main yaha Pune mein hoo-"

Abhijit stopped suddenly in his tracks, remembering that day.

That very day, when he was recognized by the vice president of the same industry, where he now works as a security consultant.

" Exactly, Abhijit." Daya said, seeing him remembering that day, when he was recognized by Kate, the vice president to CEO of the Adler Corp.

" Kate ? Uss din Kate ne mujhe dekh kar pehjaan liya tha." Abhijit said, looking up at Daya in his eyes," Jaroor usne tumhe mere baare mein bataya hoga."

" Haan. Kate ne hi hume bataya. Aur agar shayaad usne tumhe nahi dekha hota toh shayaad hum log kisi ko yeh pata nahi hota ki tum aakhir gaaye kaha," Daya said, furthermore continuing, " aur dekho, Abhijit, Kate ne tumhe uss din dekhkar pehjan liya aur ek na ek din koi aur tumhe aise karke pehjan lega. Tab tum kya karoge ? Isliye ACP sir tumhe protective custody mein rakhna chahte hai."

" Toh Sir, aap kya kehte hai ?" Rajat asked in a gentle voice.

It was not a question and he would not have answered if it had been because there was no way to answer him and come out on top.

" Ek baat main tum logo ko batata hoon, agar tum log mujhe use karte ho toh yeh serial killer pakra ja sakta hai ."

"Abhijit." Daya groaned, with the others looking at Abhijit in alarm, at his suggestion.

" Nahi, suno" he glanced at all of them, Daya looking put upon but the others seemed intrigued by the idea so he could only hope that meant that, at least, one of them would hear the wisdom in his words.

" Agar Abhilash mere piche paara hua hai toh mujhe thora bahar nikalna chahiye taki woh mujhe dekh kar mere piche aaye. Agar hum logo ka kismat acha nikla, toh woh kisi aur ko dhoondne se pehle mujhe dekhega."

Daya huffed out a breath and crossed his arms over his chest but otherwise remained silent. It was a telltale sign that he might not like what he was hearing but he did not have a good enough argument to voice.

" Par, Abhijit sir, hume toh yeh bhi pata nahi hai ki yeh Abhilash aab kaha hai." Sachin warned softly, his voice speculative.

" Yeh Abhilash aise kabhi nahi niklega. Main usse dikhna chahiye. Iska matlaab mujhe aur thora nikalna parega, jabtak woh mera picha nahi karta."

Sachin sat down and leaned back in his chair, deep in thought.

" Nahi." Daya growled, " Kabhi nahi ! ACP sir tumhe protection mein rakhna chahte hai."

" Main aab CID mein kaam nahi karta aur na hi ACP sir mera koi senior hai ." Abhijit shot back.

Neither of them had sat back down at the table and Daya took a threatening step forward. "Nahi." He hissed low.

" Tum kya karogi, Daya ?" Abhijit growled back, with a step closer of his own. " Mujhe din raat dekhte rahogi ? Kyunki agar mujhe rokhna chahte ho toh wohi ek upay hai mujhe rokhne ke liye."

" Agar mujhe..."

" Yeh aap dono kar kya rahe hai ?" Rajat's voice was quiet but they both stilled when he interrupted them, " Yeh Abhijit sir ka decision hai aur upar se Dinesh sir ka bhi support hai."

He knew who Dinesh was, the ACP of the Pune CID office. Obviously it had not just been ACP sir that they had been busy explaining their theory to. It actually went a long way to reassuring him that their theory was creditable.

Daya threw his hands up in the air, " Theek hai. Theek hai. Agar tumhe maren ka itna chauk hai toh chauk se maro. Main kaun hota hoon tumhe rokhne ke liye." He dropped himself into one of the chairs and glared down at the table.

Abhijit snorted, the sound more playful than dismissive.

Daya's jaw clenched and he turned his head to stare down at the floor.

"Daya." Abhijit pushed.

Abhijit figured he understood what the problem was. Daya had always been adverse to anything that might hurt Abhijit. In truth, it had been one of the many reasons their suggestions to a hard situation sometimes ends up in a big fight.

"Daya..." he coaxed quietly as he sat back down across from him.

Daya shook his head before he sighed, " Main bhi saath mein jaa raha hoon." He muttered as he glanced up at Abhijit.

"Theek hai." Abhijit smiled at him and Daya managed a slight grin back.

_Crisis adverted._

He was more glad then he had first realized that it was Daya, Rajat, Freddy and Sachin who had come to see him. Because they were family, they understood each other. If Arjun and Vicky had come, it would only took a look and a couple words for things to be good between them. He was not sure if he could have handled yelling and maybe a couple of thrown fists. He was already riding an emotion roller coaster and he did not think he needed to add anything else to it.

" Par main tumhare saath jaa raha hoon." Daya muttered, the finality in his tone loud and clear, looking straight in Abhijit's eyes.

_Silence._

" Kya hua ? Kya tum yeh soch rahe the ki main tumhe akele jaane dene waale hoon ? Yeh tum sochna bhi maat."

" Darashal, baat waisa nahi hai, Daya. Baat kuch aur hi hai."

" Toh batao, aakhir baat kya hai."

" Chaar din ke baad ek conference hai Bangalore mein. Adler Corp. ke siba aur bohot saare companies aane waale hai. Woh conference Adler Corp. organize kar rahe hai toh security ka in-charge main hoon. Mujhe waha jaana parega aur waha bahar ka koi party aander aana mana hai. Aur agar waha aana chahte ho toh tum sab ke paas invitations hona chahiye, warna aander jaana possible nahi hai."

" Matlaab, waha koi police ka aadmi nahi jaa sakta, bina invitations ke." Daya said raising his eyebrows.

" Exactly. Akshit ka strict orders hai. Maine usse poocha tha aur ussne kaha ki woh pehle bhi aise kar chuka hai. Matlab kisi police ka aadmi aander nahi aane dete, sab kuch unka company hi sambhalte hai."

" Yeh Akshit Adler corp. ka owner hai ? Kaafi terha aadmi lagta hai. Agar kuch ho gaya toh police ko waise hi bulana parega. Itna over confidence sehaat ke liye theek nahi hai."

" Tumhe aandaza bhi nahi hai yeh Akshit kaisa aadmi hai. Aapne profit ke liye kuch bhi kar sakta hai. Aur main yeh nahi kahunga ki Adler Corp. ke security acha nahi hai, balki high class security hai. Koi professional hi saare security pass kar sakta hai bina koi shaq ke, yeh main poore daabey ke saath keh sakta hoon. Phir bhi main ek baar aur Akshit se baat karke tum logo ke baare mein baat karke dekhta hoon. Dekhte hai woh kya kehta hai."

" Agar Akshit nahi mana toh ?"

" Maan bhi sakta hai. Tum Akshit ko nahi jaante. Woh kaafi unpredictable hai. Kabhi bhi kuch bhi keh sakta hai. Aur agar usne nahi mana toh tum log reporters banke bhi under jaa sakte ho. Usmein toh tum logo problem nahi hoga."

" Par, sir, problem usmein nahi hai. Problem yeh Akshit hai. Agar usse pata chal gaya ki hum log reporters nahi balki CID officers hai, toh kya hoga ?" Rajat asked with the element of worry creeping in his voice.

" Waisa kuch bhi nahi hoga, Rajat."

" Abhijit sir, aap itna dabey ke saath yeh kaise keh sakte hai ?" Freddy asked worriedly, " Agar Akshit aapko naukri se nikal diya toh ?"

" Haan, Abhijit. Freddy theek keh raha hai. Tumne toh khud hi kaha tha ki yeh Akshit kuch bhi kar sakta hai, toh woh tumhe naukri se bhi nikal sakte hai. Uske liye yeh koi baara baat nahi hai." Daya said with a no nonsense voice.

Without saying anything, Abhijit slowly stood up to stand by the window, with his back at them.

" Abhijit, kya hua ?" Daya asked, taken aback by his friend's sudden odd behavior, " Kuch problem hai kya ?"

" Nahi aisa kuch nahi ha-" Abhijit said, his sentence stopped by the ringing of his cell phone.

Without sparing them a fleeting glance, Abhijit picked up his cell, without even looking at the caller screen.

" Abhijit speaking."

At this, all of them glanced at their senior in surprise, but only saw his back, which was turned to them, again.

There was some female on the other line, that much was sure, and by the looks of it, Abhijit was listening intently, to whatever was being said by the other person. And after a few seconds, Abhijit finally turned to them and signaled them to wait there, while he went to the other room to continue his discussion.

" Yeh Abhijit sir aise kyu chale gaye ? Woh toh humare saamne bhi baat kar sakte the…." Sachin said trailing off with surprise evident in his voice.

" Jaroor kuch baat hai jo Abhijit hume nahi bata rahe hai." Daya said suspiciously, " Tum log yaha ruko, main thora paani lekar aata hoon."

Daya stood up and went to the kitchen, leaving the others agape. And before they could say anything, Daya returned with a full jug and kept it in the table.

The others were about to ask Daya, when, this time, Abhijit returned, with some folders along with a laptop. And only then, they noticed, that their senior had returned, completely dressed in corporate attire.

" Company se call aaya tha. Mujhe jaana parega, kuch jaroori kaam aa para hai. Tum log yahi rahoge ?" Abhijit asked them, buttoning up his shirt, looking in the mirror.

" Agar tum chaho toh." Daya said cautiously, looking at Abhijit closely.

" Yeh kya baat hui ? Tum log yaha hi raho. Yaha tum logo ko koi dhoonde nahi ayega aur waise bhi yeh appointment gift hai company ke taraaf se, toh tum log jo bhi chaho use kar sakte ho."

" Tumne hume yeh baat nahi bataya ki agar Akshit ko yeh pata chal gaya ki hum log reporters nahi hai toh- "

" Daya, maine kaha na Akshit waisa kuch bhi nahi karega." Abhijit said sharply, cutting off Daya's worries.

"Tumhe poora yakeen hai ?"

At this, Abhijit turned back to look at Daya in his eyes.

" Yeh baat sirf main tum logo ko ek hi baar bataonga. Baat sunne ke baad koi sawaal bhi maat poochna." Abhijit said sharply, and takes a deep breath, again continuing, " Main security consultant hi nahi balki Akshit ka personal secretary bhi hoon. Unka haar ek baat aur raaz main bohot achi tarah se jaanta hoon. Uss hisap se agar dekha jaye toh main yeh keh sakta hoon ki woh mujhe naukri se nikalne se pehle mujhe mar dega. Lekin, under no conditions, Akshit mujhe nikalega. Itna main uske baare mein jaanta hoon."

And without saying anything, Abhijit took away, only to be caught on his wrist by Daya near the doors.

" Inn sab ka matlab kya hai ? Main kuch samja nahi." Daya said sharply, with a penetrating gaze on Abhijit.

And just as suddenly, Abhijit twisted his wrist out of Daya's grip and using the same hand, to tug Daya close to him, with his mouth close to Daya's ear.

" Its very simple, Daya. It means that Akshit would rather kill me than see me working for others, instead of him." Abhijit whispered to Daya, meant only for his ears.

And before Daya can ask him, Abhijit took off with his possessions, in a swirl of Armani.


	5. Chapter 5

It took one full day to get the clearance and all the paperwork in order but they finally got the green light to start.

It had made Abhijit twitchy, having to wait, he was used to doing things how and when he pleased but on the upside, at least, he got to meet the rest of the task force that Daya had thrown together. It was a small group, only six including Abhijit along with Rajat, Sachin, Freddy, and Nisha and Arun, from the Pune CID, but Daya explained that those were the key agents, that they will be the ones who will be going to Bangalore. Really, Abhijit did not particularly care to know that there was a chance that it would not be him that would catch the guy but he kept that locked down tight. He might not care what the others, as a whole thought of him, but he did not want Daya or more importantly, the others from the Mumbai CID, thinking that the chance of another innocent man dying meant nothing to him because it did. It just did not matter as much as his need to clear his name, himself.

And much worse, Daya would not stop pestering him about Akshit, about not wanting him to leave Adler Corp. under any conditions, and even more disturbing, is the fact that Daya won't stop asking Abhijit about how he got the invitations for them from Akshit. Each time Daya would try to ask Abhijit, he somehow avoids the confrontation.

Until that day.

And that day turned out to be the day when Abhijit was getting ready to go to Bangalore with Akshit for the conference.

And even Abhijit was not expecting what Daya was about to say.

* * *

_It was the morning of the day, when Abhijit was to go to Bangalore for the conference, and was seeing the last minute preparations for the security planning on his laptop. Being immersed in his work, he never looked up at Daya even, though, he came to his room with a warm cup of coffee for him._

" _Kya dekh rahe ho, Abhijit ?" Daya asked, putting the cup of coffee near him._

"_Aisa kuch nahi. Baas last minute preparations." Abhijit said, without leaving his eyes off the screen, " Kyu ? Koi problem hai kya ?"_

" _Problem nahi hai. Baas tumse kuch poochna tha."_

" _Toh poocho ?"_

" _Darashal, Akshit ke baare mein."_

_That stopped Abhijit in his tracks, and he looked sideways at Daya, taking his eyes off the screen._

" _Akshit ke baare mein ?"_

" _Mujhe uske baare mein kuch bhi baat nahi-"_

" _Main jab bhi tumse uske baare mein baat karne ki koshish karta hoon, tum humesha taal dete ho. Aisa kyu ?"_

" _Kya jaan naa hai uske baare mein ? Maine toh tumhe sab kuch batahi diya. Aur kuch hai bhi nahi batane ke liye. Toh tum mere piche kyu pare hue ho ?"_

" _Pata nahi, Abhijit, par mujhe kyu aisa lagta hai ki tum humse kuch chupa rahe ho."_

" _Aisa kuch bhi nahi hai." Abhijit said while returning his eyes back to the screen, only to see Daya's hand snapping fast on the laptop, closing it. _

" _Aare,kya kar rahe ho-"_

" _Woh sab choro. Mujhe sirf yeh jaan na hai ki tumne uss din waisa kyu kaha ki Akshit bhale tumhe mar dega pa-"_

" _Daya," Abhijit said, cutting off his reply, " Maine waise hi kaha, majak me. Aur waise bhi Akshit aisa nahi hai. C'mon, relax, Daya. Aur aab mujhe aapna kaam karne do."_

* * *

But what Abhijit does not know, is that Daya is also thinking about the same thing. He cannot help, but think that, even though " the talk" stopped there, but he cannot help but have a feeling, that there's more to it, than Abhijit is telling him.

And about Abhijit…

Daya could not place his mind, but he can say, without any doubt , that, in these months, something have changed about Abhijit.

The way he talks, walks, everything about had changed. It was as if someone else have taken Abhijit's place, wearing his face.

But one thing worried him too much.

_The feeling. _

He cannot shake the feeling that something bad is waiting to happen in Bangalore, and that they are going straight into it.

* * *

The journey to Bangalore was uneventful, except the fact, where Freddy nearly locked himself, in the bathroom, much to the amusement of others.

Abhijit had gone with Akshit to Bangalore and was supposed to be busy, revising the security plans, so it came as a pleasant surprise, when the said person himself, was waiting for them at the airport.

" Kyu, yeh soch rahe the ki main tum logo ko akele chor dunga ?" Abhijit asked with a smile evident in his voice.

" Bilkul nahi. Mujhe pata hai ki tum apne baccho ko akele itne baare seher mein bhatakne nahi do ge." Daya answered with a smile.

" Chalo, theek hai. Aao." Abhijit said, leading them towards the exit, again continued, " Arun, Nisha, journey mein tum logo ko koi takleef toh nahi hua ?"

" Bilkul nahi, sir." Nisha said.

" Waise, Freddy ka baat kuch alaag hai." Arun said.

Knowing what Freddy got caught up in the plane, Abhijit smiled , but did not said anything, while Freddy spluttered.

" Tum yaha akele aaye ho ?" Daya could not help but ask.

" Kate bhi hai. Usse toh sirf excuse chahiye tum logo se milne ke liye."

Noticing the fondness in Abhijit's tone, Daya glanced at him.

" Tum dono kaafi close ho ?"

" Waisa hi kuch."

" Kya main aapse ek baat pooch sakta hoon, Abhijit sir ? Aap bura toh nahi manege ?"

Abhijit glanced sideways at Arun. During these past days, both Arun and Nisha had become quite close to all of them.

Though Arun was a Senior Inspector, but fresh and new, he often referred to Abhijit as his senior, despite being in the same position, much to Abhijit's chagrin and to the amusement of others. Finally, Abhijit had surrendered to Arun, in his mission, to get to Arun, to call by his name.

And due to this, Abhijit could not help but smile at Arun's slight hesitation.

" Poocho."

" Sir, Kate ko toh pata hai ki hum log CID se hai, par Akshit ko ? Usse toh pata nahi hai."

" Maine usse kaal sab kuch bata diya."

" Bata diya ? Tumne toh hume bataya hi nahi." Daya said alarmingly, " Aur waise bhi tu-"

" Daya," Abhijit said, cutting him firmly, " Relax. Waisa kuch bhi nahi hua jo tum soch rahe ho aur hoga bhi nahi."

And before anybody could say anything, a loud voice startled them, and they all turned in that direction.

And saw Kate coming towards them, tugging a disgruntled man towards them, who turned out to be her personal assistant.

As per customs, after the introductions, the group were taken to the La Benzx, after much agreements and disagreements, along with varied responses.

* * *

" Mujhe yeh idea kuch theek nahi lag raha. Agar boss ko pata chal gaya, toh mujhe laat marke footpath mein phek dega. Aare, tum toh aise baat kar rahe ho jaise ki tumhe maloom hi nahi ki humare boss kitne dur tak jaa sakte hai."

" C'mon, relax, Rohan. Aisa kuch bhi nahi hoga. Tum bina baaje daar rahe ho."

" No."

" Please."

" No. Do not even think about it."

" You are mean."

The said conversation has been going on for the past ten minutes, ever since the group landed in La Benzx, between Kate and her personal assistant, Rohan, much to the amusement of the others. The conference was in the next day, so Kate has been pestering all of them to go to a bar to relax, for just a few minutes. All has accepted her invitation, except Rohan, who is hell bent on not going to the bar.

" Theek hai. Bar mein koi problem nahi par agar kuch garbar hua toh hum log kya karenge ?"

" Yeh loh, itna saare CID officers hai, phir bhi tumhe daar lag raha hai ? Waisa kuch bhi nahi hoga."

" Agar hua bhi, yeh log hai na." Abhijit consoled Rohan, pointing out to Daya and the others.

Abhijit could not help but feeling to have a soft spot for Rohan. Other than Kate and Akshit, Rohan is the third person in the company to have known about Abhijit's real identity, and from the moment, he had heard about the killer, supposed to be coming after Abhijit, he has become over protective of Abhijit, not much different from Kate and Akshit.

After much persuasion, Rohan finally decided to go with them, but only with the assurance from the officers, that, they will protect Abhijit and will keep guard over him in the bar.

* * *

Daya could not help,but to shift his jaw back and forth as he moved through the crowd at the bar. It was not really all that busy but then again it was a Wednesday night and early. The day did not bother him, it did not seem to matter to their suspect what day it was, just if he had an opportunity.

" Waisa karna baand karo." Abhijit hissed in his ear. " Tumko dekhkar koi yeh kahega ki tumhe kisine ghusa mara hai."

Daya kept the urge to roll his eyes under wraps. " Mujhe yeh sab acha nahi lagta." He wanted to reach up and poke at the little transmitter/receiver pushed into his ear but he clenched his hand around the chilled glass instead. It probably would not draw attention to himself, even if whoever was watching was paranoid but if he started playing with it, he would not leave it alone until the glass broke.

"Kya itna bhi bardaast nahi kar sakte ?"

Daya had a general idea as to where everyone was situated in the single level club and knew that if he really looked for them he would be able to spot them. But he was looking for one particular person and he casually turned as he lifted the, now warm and almost full, glass to his lips.

" Chup raho tum, samjhe. Aab mujhe toh yeh lagta hai ki shayaad hum Rohan ki batein maan lena chahiye tha. Yaha itna bhir hai ki agar koi kuch yaha karta bhi hai toh bhir ke karan dikhai hi nahi dega. Mujhe toh sirf tum hi dikhai de raho ho aur kisi toh dekh hi nahi paa raha hoon." He muttered back before making a show of seeming to take a drink, his eyes locked on Abhijit from across the room, who flashed him a smile.

"Alright, Daya. Khud se baatein karna baand karo. Tum pagaal ki taraah lag rahe ho. " Arun spoke sharply over the giggling of Kate and Nisha.

Abhijit smiled on hearing Arun and skimmed over the crowd until he could see Arun lounging at a table close to the door. It had kind of surprised him when he had first met the officer and realized that he was going to be involved. But it had been him that had also set Nisha in the direction they were on now. He had no doubt that eventually someone in the Pune CID would have realized that they had a serial killer in town but who knows how long that would have taken. And if the majority opinion was correct, and it hopefully was or using Abhijit as bait might end up being a waste of time, hunting specifically for him .

He quickly scanned the emptying bar, it was almost closing time, and chances were that their suspect was not going to suddenly appear now.

Abhijit slid off the stool, purposely leaving his glass behind. It was no great loss, he had been carrying it around for at least an hour and it was warm, he would not mourn the three eighty he had paid for it.

" Sir, aap kaha jaa rahe hai ?" Sachin asked.

" Baas. Washroom se aa raha hoon."

" Jaldi aana." Daya reminded Abhijit.

" Yeah. Do not make me break open the door." Rohan grumbled.

Abhijit smiled and went in the direction of the washroom. Coming out of the washroom, he was about to go to his place when his cell vibrated.

Which turned out to be Akshit.

Akshit was supposed to be in Chennai for a project, alone, since he has given strict orders to Abhijit to stay away from the project and to give his full attention to the conference in Bangalore.

So, why was he calling Abhijit at this ungodly hour ?

"Abhijit, tum kya kar rahe ho?" Daya hissed, his voice too close in his ear that Abhijit had to clench his fingers around his cell to stop from clawing his earpiece out.

He dropped his chin, projecting the image that he was looking down to ensure he did not step on someone else's feet as he slipped off his place.

"Akshit ka call aaya hai."

"Nahi. Yaha bohot bhir hai, Abhijit. Agar hum mein se koi ek bhi hila, toh hum ek dusre ko hi dekh nahi payenge."

He moved between two tables, close enough to meet Daya's eyes but far enough away that neither he nor Rohan could make a grab for him without it being obvious. He lifted one shoulder in a shrug before purposely moving around a group of six guys so that he could have a moment of relative peace.

" Yeh Abhijit bhi na!" Daya growled, " Dhoondo usse."

Abhijit did not bother to look behind him, hoped that if he kept moving easy, like everyone else around him and the fact that only Daya should know him well enough to recognize him from behind, that he could remain anonymous for a few more minutes.

" Agar usse mila, toh kehna."

Abhijit gritted his teeth against the enviable answer but it never came. He just wanted five minutes without everyone staring at him, cataloguing his every move. It was not so easy being the bait, being the one that has to sit alone and appear available all the time. Hard to be left with nothing but his own thoughts to keep him company.

He did not miss the irony of that idea, the fact that he had spent months with only his own thoughts as company and had been completely content but now, it was not enough.

"Daya, humare group mein se tum sabse lamba ho. Yeh maat kehna ki tumhe Abhijit dikhai nahi de raha." Arun was starting to sound pissed off and a little desperate.

Abhijit knew why, he understood that they were basing their whole operation on the idea that the killer would be after him. But they were also basing it on the hope that he was even here in Pune.

But what if he was not ?

As much as he did not want to consider it, what if he really was not in Pune ?

Abhijit was pretty sure he had been at one point, he had seen the evidence but what if the evidence is wrong.

" Daya ?"

" Nahi. Mujhe woh nahi mila."

Daya sounded concerned but he refused to believe that it was for anything other than the real possibility that they were going to shut them down for the night because of what he was doing.

" Abhi ? Abhijit, kaha ho tum ?"

He could not help it, he had only been able to ignore that tone of voice from Daya twice, once when he thought he was doing the right thing and once when he was so angry he could not see beyond his own rage. This was not one of those times. He dropped his chin, pocketed his cell after sending a message to call later and raised his free arm to rub at the back of his neck and opened his mouth to reply when he knocked shoulders with someone.

" Oh, sorry, man! "

Abhijit did not recognize the voice but as he looked up from the spreading wet spot from his glass hitting his thigh, and he was confronted with a face that he had been thinking of almost non-stop for a week.

Abhijit's mind went blank. After days of looking for him, of beginning to think they would never find him, there he was, right in front of him.

His assessment had been correct that first time he had stared at the police composite sketch. He was not someone that would stand out and he would not be any more memorable than any of the couple hundred guys in the bar. But there was something about him, something about the way he smiled, that drew interest.

If he did not know exactly what kind of animal the guy in front of him was and his mixed normal reasons.

He had to say something, he had to alert everyone else that their suspect was right there but all his training seemed to have gone out the window. All he could concentrate on was not blowing everything by going for the bastard's throat.

His smile faltered and he peered closer at Abhijit, " Tum theek ho?"

_Damn. Damn._

He was freaking the guy out. He had to say something fast before the guy bolted. Especially if he had recognized Abhijit the way he had him and began to wonder if something was not going on. Sure it was public knowledge that he was no longer with the CID but this guy was paranoid enough to risk capture by returning to a place that the CID officers were looking for him to get rid of the only person who could identify him. It would not be surprising to think that he was weighing the odds that somehow Abhijit had figured out who he was.

" Haan." He managed a slight smile. " You know, busy day."

The guy appeared to relax slightly, " Yeah. I am sorry, You know, tumhare upar drinks gira diya. Chalo, tumhara mood thora theek kar deta hoon. Ek aur drink ho jaye ?"

"Abhijit, waha ho kya raha hai ?" Arun was pissed but he could hear the interest, the hesitated excitement, in his voice.

He did not want another drink, he had not wanted the one he had been carrying, it had simply been a prop. What he wanted was a way to let everybody else know who was with him. What he needed was to get him away from the crowd so that he could not slip away from Abhijit.

"Actually, main aisa hi bahar jaane waala tha. Agar drink offer karna chahte ho toh ek cup coffee order kar sakte ho."

" My god. Abhilash Abhijit ke paas hai!" Daya sounded breathless, " Dhoondo usse, jaldi !"

Abhijit pushed away the thrill that shot through him at the possible edge in Daya's voice. He did not have time to obsess over what it might mean, not with the suspect starting to look like he was trying to find a way to back out.

That could not be right, not if he recognized Abhijit and Daya's assumption had been wrong ?

Really, he was no one to this guy but he was not like the last victim in Pune and he had never met him before tonight. It very well could be that the only reason they were even looking at each other was because of the spilt drink.

" Yeah. Agar tumhe interest nahi hai toh chalo bahar chalte hai. After all, tumhara jeans toh maine kharab kiya."

The grin that the guy flashed was not completely faked. Now Abhijit just had to alert everyone else that they were leaving. Suddenly only being able to hear the officers' side of the conversation was not the good thing, it seemed more like a bad idea.

" Aap kaha hai, Abhijit sir ?"

He pushed the sound of Rajat's voice away, concentrating solely on getting out of the bar. Once they were outside of the club, if he said something that spooked the suspect and he tried to run, he would have a harder time of it. There would not be the crowd, there was in the bar to duck behind.

"Agar bahar jaana chahte ho toh chalo, mujhe koi problem nahi hai."

" Woh log exit ke taraaf ja rahe hai."

Abhijit winced at the volume of Arun's voice in his ear and quickly glanced sideways at the suspect. He did not appear to have noticed anything out of the ordinary, but if Arun kept bellowing like that he would probably hear him for himself once they got into the relative quiet outside.

" Dheere bolo, Arun." Rohan snarled low.

" Tum chup raho." Arun growled back but he was quieter for which Abhijit was glad. " Abhijit ko suspect le jaano do, phir hum log positions lenge."

Obviously, they had made it through the crowd. He wanted to turn his head to see how close his back up, Daya, was but he did not dare. They were almost to the exit and that was the only thing that mattered at the moment.

" Hum log bahar tak gaye lekin ek doosre ka naam tak nahi jaante."

Abhijit let him push open the door and stepped out into the quiet night. The cool night air felt good after the closed and over-heated air of the bar, felt good against his skin and helped clear his head.

"Hmm." He just had to keep up the air of interest until at least one other person from the team got outside. " Itna bhi jaldi kya hai."

The guy chuckled, " Chalo. Main hi pehle bata deta hoon." He paused in front of the alley running beside the bar and held out his hand. " Abhilash Kumar."

It did not surprise Abhijit that he was using the same name. It would not really matter, since he killed everyone that probably knew it but on the other hand, he had given it to the victim that gave his description to the police before he was murdered. He had to know that the guy had told them his name too. It just showed how egotistical and confident he was, that no one had connected the murders in Mumbai to the ones in Pune.

He briefly entertained the idea of give a false name but if the guy, Eric, knew who he was it would just alert him that something was up.

He grabbed the offered hand, "Abhijit."

The friendly smile melted off of Abhilash's face and his eyes narrowed. He tightened his hold on his hand and yanked him off balance, dragging him into the alley.

He should have been expecting it but he had really thought that Abhilash was going to try to make a break for it if he recognized who he was. He had been counting on it, actually, and had been prepared to give chase, not be dragged forward.

Pain exploded in his back as he was slammed up against the brick wall of the bar.

" Abhijit." Abhilash smiled in his face. " Maine toh socha hi nahi tha."

" Acha, toh soch lo."

With that words from his mouth, Abhijit gave a swift kick to his right leg, forcing him to leave him. This gave him the chance for which Abhijit was waiting for and in a swift movement, he slammed Abhilash against the wall, never giving him the chance to move, using his own momentum against him.

Abhijit found it hard to believe that Abhilash was laughing in this situation, when the sound reached him.

" Tumhe pata hai, Abhijit, maine bilkul yeh nahi socha tha ki mera maut iss haalat mein aane waala hai. Aisi andhara gali mein aur woh bhi ek bar ke saamne ek resigned CID officer ke haatho. "

And before Abhijit could do or say anyting, he felt a sharp prick in his toes, forcing him to shift his foot. And it seems, that, even, Abhilash was waiting for that moment, because the moment, Abhijit shifted his foot, Abhilash pushed him roughly and put something in his mouth, before Abhijit could do anything.

Abhijit tried to hold Abhilash before he fell to the ground, and he succeeded, not before Abhijit heard one sentence, whispered in his ear.

" Unhe pata hai ki tum yaha ho."

And then just as suddenly, Abhilash slumped in Abhijit's arms, leaving him to wonder, whether what he just said was not just some figment of his imagination.

_He knows where you are. _

But who ?

He thought he heard Daya yell but his vision was already getting blurred and that was the last thing he remembered, before pain shot down from his toes to his spine and he blacked out.


	6. Chapter 6

Abhijit peered at Daya as he stuck his head around the curtain surrounding his bed in the hotel room or at least, he thought it was Daya. Whatever Abhilash had given him was messing with his vision but even blurry, he did not know anyone else that tall.

"Hey. Aab kaisa lag raha hai ?"

Yes, it was Daya, his voice was unmistakable.

" Pata nahi. Lagta hai ki marne ka samay aa gaya hai." He grumbled back and then swallowed hard when his stomach rolled over as he tried to pull himself higher on the bed. " Itna acha nahi. Baas thora thora…."

Daya smiled and settled into the chair beside the bed.

" Chinta maat karo." He admitted before quickly adding, " Doctor ka kehna hai ki tum jald hi theek ho jayogi. Jeher already tumhare sareer se nikal chukka hai. Tum teen char ghante mein theek ho jayogi agar tum soye toh. Isliye so jao."

" Sona jaroori hai kya ?"

" Abhijit, tum sote ho ya nahi ?"

" Haan haan, sota hoon."

* * *

It was not four hours, that Abhijit slept through, but through the entire day, and waking only in the evening.

" Hey hero. Aab kaisa lag raha hai ?"

Abhijit turned his head, just in time to see Kate whacking Rohan, on his head.

" Isko choro, Abhijit. Sach batao, kaisa lag raha hai ?" Kate asked Abhijit, ignoring Rohan.

" Aab theek lag raha hai. Waise bhi-"

Whatever Abhijit was going to say, got stuck in his throat, when he saw his team coming inside, along with Akshit.

" Hey Abhijit. Kaise ho ?" Akshit asked, sitting by his bedside.

" Aab theek lag raha hai. Waise aap ko yaha aana nahi chahiye tha. Aapko conference attend nahi karna hai kya ?"

" Aap ? Maine kitni baar kaha hai ki mujhe aap aap maat bulaya karo."

" Sorry, tum."

" Tab toh theek hai. Aur waise bhi conference maine kaal tak postpone kiya hai. Tum jyaada important ho."

" Aww, Akshit. Mujhe yeh pata nahi tha ki tum mere itna khayaal rakhte ho." Abhijit teased.

" Chup raho, tum samjhe. Yeh first aur last hai, aur mujshe kabhi bhi ye umid maat rakhna." Akshit mock scolded Abhijit.

" Ok, theek hai. No problem."

" Hey, Abhijit. I am serious."

Abhijit smiled and shrugged.

" Uss Abhilash ka kya hua ?" Abhijit asked them.

" Brought-in-dead. Usne jeher wala pill khaya tha. Baachne ke koi umid hi nahi tha. Usne tum ko bhi jahar diya tha, par woh slow poison tha. Isliye tum aab yaha h, nahi toh ….." Daya said, trailing off, when he felt the gentle squeeze of Abhijit's hand on his thigh.

" Alright. Bohot tragedy ho gaya. Aare, Abhijit tum log ke saamne hai aur tum sab log rone ki mood mein ho." Akshit tried to dissipate the tension in the room.

" Exactly. Mere jinda hone mein kisiko apshosh hai kya ?" Abhijit teased.

" Aare, bapre Abhijit sir, yeh aap kya keh rahe hai ? Aap ko aisa nahi kehna chahiye." Freddy said, his tone rising.

" Theek hai. Theek hai. Aaj se, mein kabhi aisa nahi bolunga. Theek hai, Freddy."

Freddy nodded satisfactorily, eliciting a smile on everyone.

" Alright, people. Aab sab niklo yaha se aur tumhare Abhijit sir ko rest karne do." Akshit said, standing up, again continued, looking down at Abhijit, " Aur tum, Abhijit, rest lo, samje."

" Aur rest ? Tumhara dimaag kharab hai kya ? Aur kitna rest lena parega mujhe ?"

" Main rahunga isske paas." Daya said.

" Taki main conference mein na ja saku ?"

" Tumhe pata kaise chala ki conference thori der baad hai ?"

" Agar mujhe pata nahi hoga, toh aur kisse pata hoga ?"

" Haan. Yeh baat toh hai. Phir bhi, tum yaha hi raho. Rohan aur Kate sab sambhal lega."

"Akshit." Abhijit said, just as the trio was about to go, prompting them to stop and turn back, " Yeh log bhi jaa rahe hai tumhare saath."

Akshit was about to protest, when stopped by Abhijit's voice, " Waha ka security main kisi aur ko sopna nahi chahta. Kate aur Rohan toh tumhare paas rahega, isliye. Mujhe inn teeno," Abhijit said, nodding towards Rajat, Sachin and Freddy, " par poora biswas hai. Aur sach kahu toh, mujhe aur kisi ke upar utna bharosa nahi hai jitney ke inke upar hai."

" Tum log sambhal sakte ho na ?" Abhijit now asked the trio, turning his attention to them.

" Haan, sir. Aap chinta maat kijiye. Hum sambhal lenge." Rajat said, and moved out of the room, along with the others, who went out after promising them, to return before midnight, leaving only Daya and Abhijit in the room.

" Kya hua ? Mere chehre pe kuch hai kya ?" Abhijit asked with a smile.

" Nahi toh."

" Jiske liye hum yaha aaye the, woh kaam toh ho gaya."

" Haan, woh toh hai."

" Toh phir CID mein waapas ka baa rahe ho ?"

_Silence._

" Kya ! Tum wapaas nahi aa rahe ho ? Agar yeh Akshit ke baar-"

" Sab kuch Akshit ke baare mein nahi hai, Daya. Theek hai, tum chahte ho ki main CID mein wapaas jao lekin reason kya dogi ? Yeh socha hai tumne ? Yeh Abhilash mar chuka hai aur aab koi upay nahi hai jaan ne ke liye ki usne Vikarm ko mara hai. Aur tum ek CID officer ho, Daya, toh tum hi kaho kya koi mujhe biswas karega bina sabood ke. Mana ki forensic reports hai, jisse yeh pata chal jayega ki usne poison pill khaya hai par sab log toh yehi sochega na ki maine sach chupane ke liye usse poisin pill de diya hai. Tum chahe jo bhi kar lo, Daya, koi nahi manega. Aur woh Arjun aur Vicky ? Woh log toh aur nahi manega." Abhijit said, furthermore continuing, " Aur tum ek aadmi ko bhul rahe ho. DCP sir. Unse kya kahogi tum ? Woh toh aur nahi manega. Aur Daya," Abhijit stops, then looks at Daya in his eyes, " yeh tum kaise keh sakte ho ki maine Abhilash ko woh pill nahi khilaya ? Tum log toh bohot der se waha pohjhe the. Aur Daya, ek CID officer ke tarah socho, dost ke tarah nahi."

Daya could not believe at what Abhijit was insuinating.

_That he is a killer._

" Yeh tumhe ho kya gaya hai, Abhijit ? Yeh sab kya ajeeb baat kar rahe ho ?"

" Tum jaanto ho, Daya, tumhara problem kya hai ? Tum hamesha dil se sochte ho, dimaag se nahi. Kabhi kawar dimaag se socha karo."

" Yeh tum mujhe sikhane ki jaroorat nahi hai." Daya snarled, and stomped out of the room in barely hidden anger.

For a moment, Abhijit simply stared at the door, through which Daya went. And for a few moments, when it seemed that Daya is not going to come any time soon, Abhijit slowly got up, musing about his friend's behavior.

Why is it so hard for Daya to understand ? Does not he understand that nobody will believe them even if they present the evidence of poison pills. For all they know, it may even be himself, who has forced Abhilash to eat, in order for the truth to remain hidden. No matter from what angle he sees the situation, it seems that he himself is the killer of two persons, Abhilash and Vikram.

Sighing, he poured himself a glass of water, and sat on the bed, thinking about what direction, his life has taken in these few months.

Keeping the glass in its place, he searched the remote for the tv, to get his mind out of the world of depressing thoughts. After a few seconds, finding the remote under a stack of files, he tugged it, and along with came a piece of card, which fluttered to the floor. Intrigued, he picked up the card only to see his name written upon it, along with a number, followed by two names, ending with a quoted sentence, " You will thank me."

_What the hell ?_

Why does this card have his name on it ? And more important, who has left it here ? It could be anyone, since all of them have been here to visit him, at some point or the other. And even if one of them has kept it here, then he or she should at least have the sense to tell him, instead of him finding it this way.

Again, he looked at the card. At first glance, it seemed like a normal visiting card, but another look will prove it to be false. Normally, visiting cards have the name of the one person, namely the name of the said person, to whom it belongs. But, in this case, there are three names. And secondly, the number and it is a simple number, 11. But what about the other two names, other than his ?

The first name, he got it, it is of him, but the second name is surprising. To him, it is a person's name, Barun Malhotra and the third name, to some extent, is puzzling. The name, Gold city, can be the name of anything. It may be a restaurant, hotel, villa or park. The list is endless. After pondering some seconds, he came upon only one conclusion. The name could be of a hotel and its room number, being 11, or in another case, the name could be of a gym locker's number.

Having made his decision, Abhijit went out in a cab, never noticing Daya on the other end of the road, who by now, was returning to the hotel. For a moment, Abhijit decided whether or not to ask the driver about the location of Gold City. The driver, noticing the lost expression on Abhijit's face, smiled.

" Kya hua, sahab ? Aap kuch pareshan lag rahe hai ?"

For a moment, Abhijit looked at the driver, and decided to give it a try.

" Darashal, mere dost ne mujhe ek jagaah pe bulaiya hai par mujhe mauka hi nahi mila uss jagaah ke baare poochne mein."

" Toh naam bataye. Shayaad yeh baanda aapke kaam aa jaye."

" Gold City."

" Bapre! Aapka dost koi pehelwan hai kya ?"

_Jackpot._

It means he was right about the name. It is the name of a gym.

" Matlab yeh gym ka naam hai."

" Haan sahab. Aap naye ho shayaad isliye aapko nahi maloom. Yeh bohot baara gym hai yaha ka."

" Toh phir waha chalo."

And without wasting anytime, the driver took a u-turn, and took off in the direction of the gym. Entering the gym, Abhijit could tell that, yes, it is a very big gym. Looking here and there, he saw the receptionist and went up to her.

Following one of the workers after sometime, Abhijit could not think that what was it which prompted him to give the name of 'Barun Malhotra' as his to the receptionist. And now, it seems like that there was really someone in the gym, who goes by Barun Malhotra. Abhijit could only hope that the real Barun does not come after him.

Reaching the locker, the worker opened for him and Abhijit did not expect anything. But what did not expect was the bundle of roses to fall at his feet along with some greeting cards and some letters, and what seemed like love letters.

" Lagta hai aapke girlfriend ne diya hai ?"

Abhijit almost wished to throw a punch in the worker's face, but that would be obviously, be a bad impression. He can be thankful that this is nothing compared to the scene which his mind conjured, of what the other people would have thought at this scene if they had seen it.

" Haan haan. Aab niklo tum yaha se."

Sending a toothy grin at Abhijit, the worker went away, which infuriated him even more.

Slowly, Abhijit gathered the roses and love letters, and was about to stuff it back in the locker, when a slim package inside the locker, caught his eye. Taking out the package, he stuffed the roses and letters inside the locker, and sat on the bench. Emptying the contents of the package on his lap, he could not believe at what he saw. There are various newspaper cuttings from different papers and that, too, from different years, along with some other reports. On a closer look, the cuttings turned out to be of various crimes, right from smuggling to scams, to kidnappings and forgeries, and there seemed to be no end to it. Moving his eyes towards the reports, he found it to be one person, someone named Victor Adler, who seemed to be related to all of those going- ons, described in the cuttings. On a closer look, now he noticed the name Victor Adler, in many of the cuttings. And from the look of it, Victor seems like a dangerous criminal, involved in crimes and god knows what.

Now, the main question remains, who is the person, who led him to this locker ? First and foremost, he has never even heard of this so called Victor Adler and secondly, he is finding it hard to believe that some criminal like him could exist, without ever getting caught, and also having no trace of him, linking to such heinous crimes.

Now, he knew, whoever it was, he or she has filled the locker with roses and letters to hide this package. It is extremely intelligent, given that nobody will think to look for something important in such a public place.

And without wasting any time, he hid the package inside his suit and moved away from that place in the cab.

* * *

Daya never thought Abhijit would take such a step. He has been poisoned for god's sake and here he has gone somewhere, without telling anybody, and that too, leaving his cell phone behind. Almost one hour has passed, with him searching in all the floors and just when he was about to report it to police, the said culprit came in, who looked taken aback at him.

" Tumhara dimaag toh theek hai, Abhijit ? Tum akele kaha gaye the ?," Daya asked, further more continuing, " Tumhe biswas nahi hoga par main abhi abhi missing report likh wane waala tha. Kaha gaye the tum ?"

" Baas kahi nahi. Aisa hi baahar mein."

" Baahar mein !"

" Haan. Ismein itne chillane ki baat kya hai ? Mera thora mood theek nahi tha, isliye. Tumhe toh pata hai aadmi ka mood kab kab kharab hota hai."

Guilt, shame and regret passed through Daya's eyes, and without saying anything, walked up to Abhijit, just as he was about to turn , and wrapped his arms around him.

" Mujhe maaf kar do. Dekho, maine shayaad bohot kuch keh diya jo mujhe kehna chahiye tha. Aaj se main waisa kabhi nahi karunga. Par please, kabhi bhi aisa bina bataye kahi par bhi chale maat jaana. Maine jab tumhe yaha nahi dekha, toh tumhe pata nahi mere maan mein kaisa kaisa khayaal aane lage the. Theek hai, Abhi. Phir kabhi aise maat karna."

" Isliye main tumhe kehta hoon ki tum dimaag se nahi balki dil se kaam karte ho. Yaar, itne sentimental maat hua karo. Mujhe itni jaldi kuch nahi hone wala." Abhijit said, his voice coming muffled out from somewhere Daya's shoulder, which elicited a laugh from him.

" Hmmm. Yeh maat kehna ki tum log abhi abhi jagrah kar rahe the." said a voice behind them.

Startled, both, Daya and Abhijit turned to look at the source of the voice, which turned out to be Rohan.

" Nahi," Daya said distangling himself , " Baas aise hi."

" Acha ?"

" Rohan," Abhijit warned, " Woh sab choro. Sach sach batao yaha kyu aaye ho ? Conference khatam ho gaya kya ?"

" Ok. Sharmaane waali baat nahi hai," Rohan said, adding hastily, " aur conference khatam ho gaya hai. Aur haan, Akshit aur Kate ko aaj hi Pune wapaas jaana hoga teen meeting ke liye."

" Toh iska matlab tum bhi ja rahe ho ?" Daya asked looking at Abhijit.

" Akshit ne tumko thori der aur yaha rukne ko kaha hai. Waise bhi tum thora toh weak hi ho. Teen char din baad aaram se aane ko kaha hai. Aur," Rohan said, firmly adding , " main bhi tumhare saath reh raha hoon. So, no complaints."

And before anyone could say a word, the rest of the team came following in.

" Abhijit, tum yehi raho. Main aur Kate Pune jaakar aate hai. Baas tum theek hone ke baad aa jana, ok. No hurries. Aur Rohan," Akshit said, further more adding, " Abhijit ka khayaal rakhna." And looked at Daya and his team, " aur tum log toh yehi rahogi. Baas khud ka bhi khayaal rakhna."

" Theek hai, tum bhi aur Kate."

" Theek hai. Chalo, hum log aab chalte hai."

" Main bhi niche tak jata hoon." Abhijit said, moving to get up from the chair.

" Nahi. Tum yehi raho. Hum-"

" Akshit," Abhijit said, cutting him off, " Maine kaha na main abhi bilkul theek hoon. Aur waise bhi, main niche tak toh ja sakta hoon. Mujmein itna toh daam hai. Aab chalo bhi." Abhijit stops then looks at Akshit and Kate, " Shayaad private plane se jaoge."

" Obviously, darling." Akshit and Kate said in unison.

" Always knew you two are more of a showoff piece." Abhijit muttered, moving out of the room, along with the others, which elicited a smile upon Daya and Rohan, who were nearest to him.

Just as they were about to reach the plane, Rohan cursed loudly, which startled all of them.

" Aab kya hua ?" Kate asked.

" Pune mein kya khaab meeting karoge bina information ke ? Main woh meeting ka file hi bhool gaya lane ke liye. Tum log utho, main file leke aata hoon."

With these words, Rohan turned back in the direction of the hotel at top speed, cursing himself for his carelessness.

" Mujhe pata tha woh jaroor kuch na kuch bhool ke aaya hai. School mein bhi aur aab bhi." Kate said, nodding her head fondly at Rohan's antics.

" Tum dono saath saath parhte the ?" Nisha asked Kate.

" Obviously. Woh mujhe line marta tha. Kabhi kabhi mujhe aisa lagta hai ki woh aab bhi mujhe line marta hai."

Just then, the pilot smiled and came, and went inside the cockpit, signaling the end of their joyful banter.

"Theek hai. Aab hum log chalte hai. Pune mein milte hai." Abhijit said, moving away from the plane, along with the others, moving away, giving them distance. Just as they were moving away, Rohan passed them, running at a full speed towards the plane.

" Oi. File nahi lena hai kya ? " Rohan shouted at them, getting up on the plane.

And then the unthinkable happened right before their eyes.

Rohan was just getting down from the plane after giving the file, when the plane exploded and burst into flames, the impact knocking all of them off their feet. For a shocking moment, all are too shocked to do anything, except trying to come to terms that the plane just burst into flames, taking away Akshit, Kate and Rohan with it.

" No."

_Abhijit. Damn it._

Abhijit would have ran right almost into the blazing inferno, had it been not Daya, who caught him by his waist, trying to stop him.

" No, no, no, no, noooo !"

" Abhijit, woh log mar chuka hai. Kya kar raho tum ?" Daya consoled Abhijit, moving him away from the debris forcefully. But, Abhijit, still weak, was putting up quite a fight, trying to fight away Daya's grasp, and it was almost as if the fire was calling him to join it. The very thought that Abhijit will run headlong into the fire, if not held strongly, chilled Daya to his core.

In his mission to hold Abhijit, Daya never took in his surroundings, and only when Abhijit slid to the ground, in his grasp, that he noticed that Rajat and the others were filling in upon the guards and other police officials about the explosion through barely hidden tears.

* * *

It was almost evening, when the entire group became free from the police officials, by giving them proofs and other usual things, related to being a witness, with the police officials, promising them that they will get to the bottom of this.

Abhijit was mostly silent all through the happenings, surfacing barely, only to say ' yes' or 'no' when prodded by Daya, to the police officials. And this was what Daya was afraid of.

That Abhijit will retreat into his shell.

First Vikram. And now this.

Upon reaching the hotel room, Abhijit went straight into the bathroom, ignoring the worried glances of the others.

Abhijit felt, as if he was living in a dream world. These first few months was good, considering, he has a job, nearly forgetting his painful memories of Vikram's death. And just when he was thinking of putting his past life behind, this has to bite him in his back.

He could not believe at the death of the trio. Just a few minutes ago, they have been laughing and in the next few minutes, his life had turned upside down by the death of them. He is finding it difficult, more like, difficult to grasp.

_Who did this and for what reason ?_

There has to be a legitimate reason for all of this. And just as suddenly, his mind came to a sudden stop with the remembrance of those long forgotten words.

_He knows where you are._

Who ? Who is this person ?

It was almost as if the said unknown person is tailing his every move, removing his barriers, to get to get to the real person, him. But what would that person get by killing these three ? It was not like that they were hiding something big.

Or is it ?

Now, even Abhijit began to doubt. The sudden unknown meetings of both Kate and Akshit, in which he along with Rohan were not allowed.

But what if his suspicions were correct ?

And again, his mind came upon a particular person, Victor Adler ? Was somehow this person related to all this happenings ? And come to think of it, he himself, works in a company named Adler Corp. Was this a coincidence that he worked in the very company, whose name is the surname of the most wanted criminal, as shown the newspaper cuttings. And now, as his mind began to catch up, he now remembers that he never asked Akshit his surname. Was it Adler or something else ? It has to be Adler since basically, a company is named after the person , by whom it is owned.

Coming to Akshit, he never deserved to die like that. Not even Kate and Rohan. It was almost like death had called them to that plane.

It was almost as if this unknown person was fully known with the knowledge that the trio were his friends.

_Friends. _

_Daya. Rajat. Sachin. Freddy._

They were more like family than friends. What if the unknown person got to them next ?

_No. No. No. _

Abhijit found himself chilled to his core, at the very thought that they will be in danger because of him. The more likely, he is to warn them, the more likely, they are going to stay to get to the truth. In no possible way, can he let that happen… In no way, is he going to let them get hurt because of him. Or much worse, what if one of them ends up being de-

Abhijit found his thoughts coming to an end, when he heard the unmistakable sound of the door knocking.

" Abhijit, tum theek ho na ? Tum under kaafi samay-"

Daya found his speech coming to an end when he saw Abhijit coming out, looking far more good, than he was a few minutes ago.

" Itna theek toh nahi hoon. Baas dhere dhere ho jayunga." Abhijit said, smiling hesitatingly.

" Tum ?"

" Waise hi."

For a moment, Abhijit simply looked at all of them. The task force that Daya had put forward together, in order to catch the serial killer, Abhilash, and cannot help but to wonder.

Coming together for another job and getting caught in another.

" Kya hua, sir ?" Nisha asked Abhijit.

" Kuch nahi, baas aise hi. Kis liye the aur kaha phaas gaye."

What could they to these words ?

" Aab kya karoge ?" Daya asked Abhijit.

" Mera tabiyet kuch theek nahi lag raha hai. Baas thora rest lena chahta hoon. Tum log bhi le lo."

But all of them knew that no will sleep very well that night. But, sleep came to them, far more easily, then they would have thought.

All, except for one.

Abhijit was fully awake, his thoughts whirling in his mind about the safety of his friends. It, was as if he is a magnet for bad luck, spreading it whenever he is around. First Vikram, then Akshit, Kate and Rohan.

Unable to stop his thoughts any more, Abhijit sat up in his bed, and stood up on the floor, slowly, without making any sound. And for a moment, he simply looked at all of them, sleeping peacefully in their beds. Having finally made his decision, Abhijit took his wallet, and took out the package, which he had hidden under the bed and went out, in only his shirt and jeans, before leaving a note.

If only, Daya or the others, would have woke up at that moment, either he or some other would have asked about the meaning of the particular two words written in the note.

_Thank you._

Because that's what was written in the note.

* * *

_A/N : Whew, that was one hell of a long chapter. And I am totally exhausted. I have to split it up into two parts, because they decided that it is too good, to be given in one go. _

_Anyway, folks, this is the end of the first part of this series. The sequel is still in its stage of cutting , copying and pasting, and so, its gonna take some time for it to surface. But it will not be long and I will try to make it fast. Till then, bye and take care, friendz._


End file.
